Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and with the private and public sectors working together and we need to acknowledge that. Were it not for private enterprise, it is possible these vaccines would not have been developed.

As it happens, none of the vaccines are made in Ireland and the intellectual property does not sit in Ireland, so our position on that has to be seen in that context. There are discussions on a waiver request. They will continue at the TRIPS council meeting tomorrow but I am informed that no decision will be made at the meeting and discussions will be ongoing for some time. The EU is open to trying to reach an agreement with all members of the WTO on how to achieve the shared goal of providing timely and secure access to safe and affordable vaccines and medicines for all. We are welcoming the proposal of the WTO Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is exploring a third way to expand access to vaccines through a licensing system.

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