Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On that, we are not suggesting that the new Secretary General of the Department of Health should be paid nothing. The Taoiseach, however, does expect student nurses and midwives to be paid nothing.

On the matter of vaccinations, because this is an important issue, the Taoiseach is battling against misinformation, not just from the Internet but from within his own party on certain occasions, regarding the weekday-only roll-out of vaccinations, which is not true. Members of the Opposition have also suggested that our vaccination rate is the lowest in Europe, which is also not true. Unfortunately, however, misinformation is even coming from the HSE. I have received such information regarding a hospital in my constituency. These are understandable mistakes and teething problems, but we feel we need a dedicated Minister of State to be the point person in Government for the vaccination process. There is much goodwill around the country for what the Government is trying to achieve and we in the Labour Party certainly want to play our part. It would be beneficial, however, if we had a dedicated Minister of State in place with full responsibility for the vaccination process as we roll it out and we want the Taoiseach to consider it.

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