Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, we agreed during our telephone conversation that we will have a more substantive meeting in the coming period in order to look more fundamentally at the British-Irish relationship post Brexit, which is important. My sense is that the politics being played in the United Kingdom are not constructive in the context of the European Union. The issue relating to the protocol in terms of the dates could have been resolved within the joint committee. Broader issues also fall for consideration in terms of the refinement of the protocol, if that is possible. What has happened here is that the British decision has been counterproductive to any response from the European Union, which has no alternative but to take and invoke legal action in terms of the breach that has now occurred. We have made it clear to the United Kingdom on an ongoing basis - I have also made it clear to the Prime Minister - that unilateral action of this kind does not advance or progress these issues but actually retards them and is regressive.

One gets the sense, however, that there is sometimes an ongoing narrative and polemic around the UK-EU relationship. That is not good. It may suit domestic politics but it is not good in terms of a more sustainable long-term constructive relationship between the European Union and United Kingdom. To me, that is of more fundamental concern than the specific breach we are discussing and this ongoing approach towards the European Union. I read a report in The New York Timesthis morning which states the EU could have exported up to 8 million vaccines manufactured in Europe to the UK in terms of open borders. The protestations do not, therefore, stand up in terms of the EU approach to the United Kingdom in respect of vaccines.

To respond to the points made by Deputy Boyd Barrett, the first decision the United Kingdom made was not to use the normal authorisation process in validating the vaccine. In other words, we waited four weeks or so for the European Medicines Agency, EMA, to authorise the various vaccines. The UK did not do that. It authorised its vaccines under an emergency provision. This would normally not be done for vaccines because they are being injected into healthy people. People can weigh that up. The clinical advice was that was not something we should do and that in terms of public safety around vaccines and protecting the public, we should go through the authorisation process. That gave a four-week minimum start to the British vaccination programme.

The second issue was the one-dose approach. Opinion is still divided on this, particularly around variants. Recently, Dr. Anthony Fauci in the United States, who has regular engagement with his UK counterparts, said there is no definitive science on this. He said, for example, he would not approve a one-dose strategy. He and others believe that it can create a vulnerability around the subsequent introduction and spread of variants.

We have decided to stick to the data as presented by the companies. The national immunisation advisory committee advises us clinically on how to dispense the vaccines, particularly in terms of dosage and interval periods. It reviews its advice in the context of data that emerge about the efficacy of the vaccines.

With the Irish vaccine programme, 95% of what we get, we give out within a week. That is not a vaccine programme in trouble. There is a broader global supply issue. As I said earlier, the big three vaccine producers are China, Europe and the United States. They will remain the key vaccine producers and manufacturers right through and beyond the summer.

We have succeeded in this country in vaccinating those most vulnerable to disease, severe illness and death. That is a significant achievement in itself and it should be acknowledged. We have vaccinated residents and staff of nursing homes, front-line healthcare workers and the over-85s, and we are now progressively vaccinating the over-80s and the cohort with underlying health conditions. The whole strategy is to try to get the vaccines to those who are most vulnerable. That gives them protection and broader society greater opportunities and options in how we conduct our lives once we have that done. We are on target to do that. The HSE revised the figures yesterday from 1.2 million to 1.1 million vaccines. We got notification this morning of an increase in the number of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines we will get. The EU is scouring Europe to see if we can create additional manufacturing capacity for the production of vaccines. The relationship between the US and Europe is also important in this regard in terms of the avoidance of protectionism around vaccines. Europe has played this straight up to now in facilitating other countries in having contracts that they freely entered into with the manufacturing companies met.

I take the points made by Deputies Alan Kelly and Boyd Barrett on Northern Ireland. I welcome the fact that Northern Ireland is doing well in its vaccination programme. It is good for the island. The more people we have vaccinated on the island, the better. In terms of alignment subsequently, there will be issues. We have to move in accordance with the public health advice we receive. We also have to take on board to the impact of the variants. We are getting hospitalisations and ICU numbers down, as well as case numbers. People's adherence to the guidelines is working and having an appreciable impact on the reduction in case numbers.

On the family carer issue, I outlined the cohorts we have vaccinated. We obviously want to move to the next cohorts. Essentially, the principle will always be those who are most vulnerable. We accept fully the case for family carers. The matter is under constant review by NIAC.

See this speech in context