Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I asked the Taoiseach about the vaccine roll-out. I am going to ask him about it again this week and will probably do so every week. Unfortunately, when I raised this matter last week, dare I say it, the Taoiseach made quite a cynical charge, which was that, in essence, asking questions about the roll-out is somehow not putting on the green jersey. The Taoiseach knows I put on the green jersey numerous times throughout this crisis and will continue to do so. Please do not go down that line again.

Transparency is the Taoiseach's friend here. With respect, this is the only opportunity any of us gets to ask him questions about the most important issue facing us as a country. I note the change in language over the past 24 hours. The Minister for Health has asked us not to be fixated on the June date - or, I jes, or the "31 June" date - or on the 82% or 55% targets set by the Government. The Taoiseach has said that he is pursuing this, so there has been a change in language. It is important to point out that I and others are not fixated on it either. This is not a "gotcha" moment as the Taoiseach once referenced. These are figures and dates that the Taoiseach and the Government have set. I, and the rest of us, want to see this substantially achieved, whether it is 79% or 81%, or by the first week in June. We want to see it substantially achieved and to work with the Taoiseach in that spirit, to be fair. Everyone is dependent on this; workers, those trying to reopen businesses and people whose lives would be affected if they were infected. I welcome the fact that there have been announcements in respect of the under-50s who have been infected - they will only need one jab - and vaccinations for pregnant women.

I have a number of questions for the Taoiseach and I want him to answer them. As was eloquently pointed out by Mark Coughlan on "Prime Time" last night, the majority of Johnson & Johnson vaccines are coming at the end of June. In view of the fact that in order to reach 82%, everyone up to their late 20s would have to get their first jab by the end of June, how will the Government ensure that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be used for 50- to 59-year-olds without skipping that cohort and going down to younger cohorts, before then coming back to it? Is that being considered or what is the plan? Logistically, it is very difficult to see how it can work without doing so. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is coming in late June but people from 50 to 59 years of age are supposed to have had their first vaccination by then.

In the context of the actual number of people who will be vaccinated, we are now at 190,000 a week. We were meant to be at 250,000. That is fine, that is slippage. However, in order to reach the target, we would have to be at 450,000 vaccinations a week by the middle of June. Is that achievable?

There are 480,000 people in the current cohort of 60- to 69-year-olds. The Taoiseach is among their number and I congratulate him in that regard. Some 260,000 have registered, which means that 220,000 have not. What is our plan collectively to ensure that the majority of people register? That is a huge number of people who have not registered.

See this speech in context