Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask about vaccines and I preface my comments by saying I am very much pro-EU. I am a former MEP and I know that Ireland is part of the EU bloc. It was very important for us in regard to purchasing power for vaccines. However, yesterday I appeared on RTÉ's "Drivetime" programme with Cormac Ó hEadhra, along with the EU health spokesperson, Stefan De Keersmaecker. To say Mr. De Keersmaecker's commentary and answers to questions was underwhelming would be an understatement. I asked the following fairly direct question, which was relayed to him. How could AstraZeneca continue to honour its contractual obligations to the UK but let down the EU? The Tánaiste has asked this himself. How is this allowed to happen? The response from Mr. De Keersmaecker was that the European Commission was "talking very seriously" to AstraZeneca.

I am sorry, but if talking very seriously to the company is the extent of what the EU is prepared to do, our colleagues in the European Commission need a different dose. They need a dose of reality because that is not good enough. They obviously do not know the level of frustration in this country, and indeed in other countries, and obviously feel this approach will get us there. It will not, however. The President of the European Commission texting the Taoiseach yesterday with good news of 46,500 new vaccines does not cut it because the text back to her should have asked what about the 653,500 vaccines, net, that we are still down. On top of this, we know that the EU has exported 34 million doses of vaccine to other countries, including 9 million to the UK, for instance. The UK and the US, in essence, are not allowing any exports, yet the EU is allowing exports to those countries.

I am asking the Tánaiste to say, on behalf of our country, that the way in which the EU is dealing with vaccines needs to be recalibrated, more ambitious and certainly more clinical. We need a summit on vaccines. The Government should demand it. I would not mind if part of that was face to face to get into the detail of this because we need to do three things as a result of this. We need to ensure we protect current supply in the EU as much as possible, and I am not into vaccine nationalism. We need to make sure, most importantly, that the contracts are honoured. Finally, we need to put together plans to increase manufacturing throughout the EU for our citizens.

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