Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I can confirm that considerable work is going on. It is being run from the Department of Health in connection obviously with NPHET and NIAC. It is looking broadly at the rest of the population. We all know that NIAC initially established a very detailed prioritisation. Now that we know more about the vaccines and their distribution, work is going on to establish what happens after cohort 4. I am very sympathetic to the points that have been raised by the carers. I am acutely aware of the value of what they provide. When Professor Butler, who chairs NIAC, was asked exactly this, the question she asked back was, given that we have a finite supply of vaccines for any group, be it family carers, teachers, gardaí or any other group, if a person is at lower risk of contracting the virus and we vaccinate them first, are we moving somebody who is at higher risk lower down the list? All of that needs to be considered.

I am particularly concerned about one group of carers, namely, carers for children. They are falling between two stools because-----

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