Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To use my time efficiently, I just want to make a statement and a few points. The Minister can use other time to respond to me or he can write to me. I do not want him to eat into Deputy Lawless's time by answering me.

As I said last week, it is crystal clear to me that we did not prepare adequately. This is borne out by the fact that senior consultants in the Coombe Women's Hospital were bringing in the family and friends to use the additional doses, even though they could have been put in a taxi or an ambulance and have been down in St. James's Hospital in a matter of minutes or have been over at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in a few extra minutes, where there seems to have been some delay in a lot of the front-line workers being vaccinated.

In terms of supply, I reiterate my call that, as opposed to the appropriate people talking to the companies as the Minister stated last week, he should get on the phone to AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna and secure additional supplies. There are no gold medals for being good Europeans on this one. I might quote the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel. It was reported in The Irish Timeson 6 January that Dr. Merkel stated, "We don't want national solo runs and think the most effective protection for us can be reached with a European approach." That was fine. Dr. Merkel already had her additional supplies in the bag at that stage and she just wanted to make sure nobody was following suit. I want us to take the old fashioned lift-the-phone approach, secure supplies and if they want €70 a dose, give it to them. Otherwise, the Minister is looking forward to a fourth wave and an indefinite lockdown, and that is no good to any of us. We did not prepare - 20 lashes. We are where we are now. It is time we got with the programme, up our game, secure adequate supplies and have the target ultimately of a 24-7 365-day vaccination to bring all of this to an end for all of us.

Like Deputy Shortall and, I am sure, other colleagues, I have a concern about how we are selecting who is prioritised and why. An email from the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, to a kidney transplantee states that the Department of Health, based on assessment of risk and disease and balance of risk of exposure through work or daily living, is what determines who is on the list. The email goes on to say that determination of the make-up of specific groups is beyond the scope of this committee. If NIAC is not deciding with its expertise who should be getting vaccinated, who is doing it? Is this not more of our ridiculous approach? Why is NIAC not saying it? Why are transplantees, who, because of their medication, are immunosuppressed, well down the field? A personal friend of mine is a kidney transplantee from Clontarf. Her husband has had to work from home since last March. Her children are being home-schooled since last March. She is well down the field to September-October. It seems we will get to her but others are more important; they must come first. It gives me no pleasure but I am bound to say there is a continuing headless chicken approach here. I do not doubt the Minister's personal commitment to want to get this right, but who is he defending? Is it National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET? Is it NIAC? Is it the Department of Health? Is it the HSE? Where is our ineptitude coming from on this?

Of course, I have to put on record today - indeed, it is in the media today and the subject of parliamentary questions to the Taoiseach - the idea that, without it coming before the Dáil for approval or, it would seem, according to the Minister, Deputy Harris, a memorandum to Cabinet for approval, we will up the price of the Secretary General of the Department of Health by €81,000. I am sorry but we need to address these issues.

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