Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The House will be aware that I am a big supporter of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, despite all its obvious imperfections. Every Deputy recognises that this is our ticket out of this crisis and that every available resource that the State has at its disposal should be brought to bear on this problem and used to assist this programme.

I have two questions for the Ministers. They are not criticisms but rather observations and suggestions for improvement. The first relates to the appointment of the chair of the vaccination task force, Professor Brian MacCraith, who is doing a good job under difficult circumstances. Is he employed in a part-time or full-time role, and if he is not employed full time in this role focusing exclusively on this problem, might the Minister consider elevating his appointment to that of a full-time position in light of its importance?

The second question relates to the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre. That is located on a floor of a building on the Leinster House campus. The centre was established specifically to deal with a multi-agency response to a national emergency. It has served us well over the past ten or 15 years when it came to severe weather events and it can serve us well again. It is lying completely idle at present.

My own experience of the vaccination programme tells me that we are lacking a centralised hub, a one-stop shop or location from which to co-ordinate the national vaccination roll out. It would make the Minister's job much easier. I empathise with his position; he is dealing with a very complex situation which is fast moving and has a lot of moving parts. We need a centralised location, manned 24/7 to co-ordinate the roll out of the programme because it is of such importance.

The National Emergency Co-ordination Centre was established for a very good reason, namely, to provide a nationwide co-ordinating facility. I find it unusual that we have decided to dispense with our national emergency response framework right on the eve of battle, when we need it most. I would welcome the Minister's comments on this. I have no further questions but look forward his response as to whether the role of chairman of the vaccination task force should be full time and whether he will consider using the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre to co-ordinate the vaccination programme.

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