Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Those are valid and good questions and I do not necessarily have answers to them all. The Deputy deserves answers to them and I will make sure he gets them. To answer the questions I can answer, the Government is in control. The Cabinet is in control and makes decisions based on advice, as it should. The Minister for Health is the lead Minister when it comes to the vaccine programme, as he is for every other vaccine programme and as he should be.

The task force will report on 11 December, I believe. It is chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith. It is in charge of purchases, delivery, administration, IT systems, communication and all such things associated with the vaccine. It is a really good group and there is no better person than Professor MacCraith to be head of it. Everyone is at the table, including officials from my Department and IDA Ireland because of our engagement with industry and the companies that developed and made the vaccine.

As far as I know — I am fairly sure of this — prioritisation is not a matter for the task force; it is a matter for the National Immunisation Advisory Committee. That is the body that makes these kinds of decisions on other vaccines. We expect a report from it very soon on the order of prioritisation. I do not believe it will be rocket science. Everyone understands that those who will be prioritised include those who need the vaccine the most, including healthcare workers, because they are at greater risk and because there is a risk that they will spread the virus to patients, and residents of nursing homes, those who are older and those with chronic diseases. Logically, for reasons I do not need to explain to anyone in this House, those are the groups that will be prioritised. Perhaps people who work in high-risk environments, such as meat factories, will be also prioritised.

There will be no charge for the vaccine. It will be paid for through taxation. It will be ensured that those who need it the most get it first. We have an option for purchase already with five or six of the companies that have developed the vaccine. We are also providing an indemnity to companies, which we must do given that this is a very new vaccine. We are indemnifying the companies that produce it, as are other member states.

I do not know what private enterprises intend to do. I am aware that they sometimes buy the flu vaccine and provide it as a benefit to their staff. This is unlikely on this occasion, first of all because they have not entered into pre-purchase agreements with the production companies. The Deputy should bear in mind that private enterprises would not be covered by the State indemnity and would be taking on the risk themselves. If the Deputy’s question is whether we should make it illegal for companies to buy the vaccine for their staff, we have not considered that yet.

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