Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I was sent up to this place by the people of Cork North Central to give voice to their opinions and concerns, which is an important part of my job. The people on the ground feel that they are doing a hard shift. For many, lockdown number three is the toughest of them all but the vast majority of people are sticking with the guidelines and to the plan. There is some scepticism about the vaccine and there are some people who say that they will not take it but my sense of it is that the vast majority of people will decide to go with the vaccine. They are hoping in their hearts that the vaccine programme will work and deliver. I believe it can and I would encourage everyone to take that vaccine because it can save their life.

People heard the Taoiseach saying that the only delay factor or problem that we will be dealing with is on the supply side. AstraZeneca did not deliver last week. I was concerned to hear the Tánaiste say that we will get it back at the end of the month. I was hoping that it would be next week or the week after but I will leave that to one side. There are issues now with communication.

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