Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As a country, down through all of our existence we have always shown solidarity with poorer regions of the world. We know there are a number of different variants of Covid-19. During the week, I said that these variants are on tour. The fact that we have introduced certain measures in respect of people coming from Brazil or South Africa does not deal with the fact the variants are all over the world and cases may not necessarily originate in those jurisdictions.

The People's Vaccine Alliance, which is made up of organisations including Oxfam and Amnesty International, estimates that wealthier nations, including Ireland, have collectively bought enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations almost three times over. To put that in context, the alliance is of the view that these nation represent 14% of the world's population but own 53% of the supplies of the world's most promising vaccines. What influence are we using internationally, through diplomatic channels and the EU, to ensure some form of equality in the vaccine roll-out for poorer regions which may not have access. There are two reasons we should do so. The first is that it is the right thing to do and the second is that it will help us all.

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