Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On previous occasions I have started my contribution by offering my condolences to those who have passed away. Over the next few days we know that there will be families laying to rest their loved ones who have suffered the fatal consequences of this virus. They do so in the cruellest of circumstances, limited in numbers to ten mourners, often with a closed coffin, and without the support of their wider family or community. Tomorrow, I and my family will do that with my grandmother, Patricia McAuliffe, who was a very gentle lady who, thankfully, passed away gently on Sunday night in her care home, surrounded not by her family but by those who have become her family during lockdown. I imagine that she will be included in the nightly numbers, but as Deputy O’Dowd has said, it is important that we know that there are people behind those numbers. I only wish that I knew the names of the other 46 people that were mentioned last night, or indeed the 3,894 other people on this island who have passed away. There will be time for commemoration.

For now we must continue to do what we know we must do, which is to wash our hands, stay at home and to keep one’s distance. These directions may ring hollow but they work and we need them to work.

There are a number of issues which I will raise with the Minister, one of which concerns the vaccination. Yesterday I started to see the circulation of a website online called omnicalculator.com. It appears to be owned by a Polish company and purports to be able to predict where Irish people will be in the vaccination programme. It is not a HSE website and has misleading information. I encourage people not to use or share it. It highlights, however, a thirst for information which many people have to know where they might be in the vaccination programme. A similar platform might be useful if adopted by the HSE when the vaccine programme gets into full swing. In reality, the reason the vaccination programme is not in full swing is not limited by logistics but by the availability of vaccine. We are not rolling out but are still rationing. The application of the AstraZeneca vaccine with the European Medicines Agency yesterday will be a key changer in that regard because it is the vaccine that allows the least number of restrictions in a roll-out programme. I look forward to that vaccine being approved and made available to us.

It is also important to know that the priority order is not about who is most deserving. When the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, NIAC, established the priority order it did so on the basis of the vaccine itself, knowing as we do, that it prevents death but does not necessarily prevent transmission. Communicating why the NIAC outlined the priority in this way is important and it is deserving that we revisit and communicate this message to people.

Equally, on the question of restrictions, it appears that these will be extended in other countries until March and even into April. Should we now look at our date of 31 January and assess what the likely date will be for these restrictions and make decisions now around examinations, education and business? There are many challenges for us ahead but for the sake of those 3,800 people who have passed away on this island, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that vaccination and reduction are our two priorities.

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