Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Berry for his questions and can assure him that Professor Mac Craith is working beyond what would normally be considered full time. If full time is 40 hours per week, although I know it is a lot longer for a lot of people, then Professor Mac Craith is working well beyond that. I speak to him almost daily, including early in the morning and late at night and I commend him and the rest of the task force on the work they are doing.

I do not believe the National Emergency Co-Ordination Centre is the right place for the vaccination programme, which is a core competence of the Department of Health and the HSE. Notwithstanding what has been a bumpy road, with by no means everything done right, the vaccination programme rightly sits with the Department and the HSE. That said, the Deputy asks a very fair question in the context of a whole-of-Government response to an emergency like Covid-19 and it is something that we will keep under review.

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