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

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to make some points. Like Deputy Moynihan, I will simply make a statement and ask that the Minister take the points on board.

I want to make three points. The Minister made the point that our role is to make policy. Our role is a little more than that. Our role is to provide leadership in what is a difficult time. It must be reflective of the front-line workers whether they be cashiers or shelf packers in retail outlets, our heroic healthcare professionals or front-line gardaí. That part is missing somewhat. I understand the difficulties of the Minister with the loaves and fishes side of it, and I will deal with that in a moment.

The second issue is communications. There are too many cooks. We have the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach trying to get a message out. We have the Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, throwing in a well-timed torpedo now and again. We have 30 members of NPHET, all with their own individual media careers at this stage plus the nightly announcement of figures and so on. We have approximately 30 other medical academics and professionals on media. We have Deputies, commentators and journalists. This is adding to the polarisation of society. It is adding to the anxiety that all of us have in the context of this ongoing nightmare. It needs to be addressed. I was saying this to the Taoiseach even before he became Taoiseach. I said it last night at our meeting and I am putting it on record today. The Minister needs to control the narrative with the truth and not have anyone with a profile adding or deducting from that in a Government setting. It should come from the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach rather than others, for example, 30 members of NPHET and 30 academic qualified people, adding or deducting from the facts of the matter.

The Minister said NIAC decides. Last week, I read into the record an email relating to NIAC and a transplantee. It was crystal clear and I will provide the email to the Minister later today. NIAC said it does not determine who is on the list. That is a problem. As a result, all of us in public life at the moment are getting email after email, call after call, text after text and social media message after social media message asking about this group or that group. They are all worthy. The transplantees are a major group. These people have had to cocoon, along with their families, for obvious reasons, since last March. They do not know where they are. This morning we heard from the Irish Association of Funeral Directors. Undertakers have no choice but to go in and out of various houses to care for the deceased and their families. They have no visibility on what the situation will be. We need to be far clearer about that but I am afraid there is ambiguity around it.

The third point relates to vaccine supply. Again, I have said every week that Europe has failed us on this. Anecdotal evidence suggests we were coming to the queue late because we put our European eggs into one basket. We put them into the development of a French vaccine that has not yet materialised. We came late to the queue with Pfizer and Moderna and later again with AstraZeneca. This suggests that, in what was a fraught Brexit negotiation environment, we were passively leaving anything associated with Britain until last.

Last night - I know it is in the media today - I made unfortunate comments that I immediately withdrew, and I apologise again for any offence that was caused, but the point is a real one. Wherever there is a viable vaccine that is safe and available, we need to be at the table. I might not like the idea personally of dealing with Russia on products, but if they have a vaccine that is safe, let us talk to them. The UAE has approved its vaccine. Hungary seems to have gone off and tried to do a unilateral deal. Whoever has a vaccine to put an end to this misery, we want their assistance and we want to be at the table.

Finally, whether the number of vaccinations is 40,000 per week at the moment or the 100,000 per week speculated by the Tánaiste yesterday evening, we are looking at a full year of this. A full year of lockdowns is not acceptable and, therefore, we must look at seriously limiting North-South access, other than to those who have to have it, and seriously limiting who can come into and leave the country in order that, within the country, when we flatten the curve, we can get back to some level of normal life in the interest of the mental health of our entire nation.

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