Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has been said by many in the House that the public and front-line care workers have done a huge amount of work to subdue case numbers. It is not very long ago that the situation was different. We all remember the dreadful figures and statistics. We dreaded watching the news, particularly in December and January. However, we have got the situation under control. We also faced difficulties in this State and throughout the EU in the context of vaccine supplies. A great deal of work has been done and a significant number of people have been vaccinated. As a result, we are in a different place now.

I concur with my party colleagues and a number of other Deputies spoke about the fact that we should really be seeking to review this legislation and these restrictions, possibly on a monthly basis. I think that people would believe that to be a sensible course of action to take in this situation.

I want to speak specifically about vaccinations. There has been a huge ramping up in vaccinations throughout the State. A major amount of work has been done. We accept that that work has been done by the healthcare system and the HSE. They have been put under brutal and unforgivable pressure due to the ransomware attack. That is a piece of work that we need to deal with as a State. Indeed, at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications today, the members engaged with the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, on the issue. We also spoke to a number of cybersecurity experts. Across the board, the State must ensure that a sufficient audit of all of our critical systems is carried out. I am not saying that this kind of attack can be prevented. However, from a best practice perspective, we must take action to avoid such attacks as much as possible into the future. I wish to commend the public and front-line heatlhcare worker. None of us would have anticipated that they would come through a pandemic and then have to deal with the actions of a criminal syndicate or conglomerate.

On vaccines, we must consider that none of us is safe until all of us are safe. We are aware of the issues in relation to variants. That is why a number of restrictions were imposed and are still in place. We must ensure that we do all that needs to be done with a view to ensuring that we have an exit from the pandemic on a global basis.

There has been much conversation in respect of the trade related intellectual property rights, TRIPS, waiver. We have also heard the alternative narrative. I will be quite honest. I am not overly concerned from an ideological perspective. Obviously, my heart tells me that the TRIPS waiver is the way to do business. It must be considered. However, I have also heard that significant work has been done by pharmaceutical companies in engaging with one another and sharing skill sets and resources with a view to producing vaccines. We must ensure that that work is done. However, it must not be done at an unseemly cost that is to be borne by the developed world. We must do all that we can. Significant responsibility rests with the European Commission and others across the globe to ensure that it happens. The western world, with most of the resources and the vaccines, has an absolute responsibility to deliver. Indeed, if we do not deliver, we will be dealing with variants consistently and constantly.

I wish to raise an issue in respect of vaccines more locally. A number of people in the Louth area contacted me because they were worried about vaccines. Generally, they were people in their early 60s who thought that they had been bypassed by the system. They contacted me and told me that they were particularly worried that they would be overlooked and would not get the vaccination. It is a good sign that people want to be given the vaccine and want a roadmap out of the situation in which we find ourselves. In fairness, the HSE was forthcoming with information. It stated that towards the end of this week, all of those aged between 60 and 69 within the Louth area will be vaccinated. That is very welcome news. Beyond that, it announced that those aged 50 to 59 would be vaccinated by early next week - hopefully by Tuesday or possibly Wednesday. I know that there has been an extra supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That is all very positive.

I must put the following question to the Minister, however. Have we ensured that we have all the capacity and resources that will be required for when we receive an even bigger delivery of vaccines into this State? The numbers are increasing significantly. There is talk of considerable amounts, like 400,000 doses and more, being delivered each week in June. We must ensure, therefore, that, across the State, all the resources required in respect of vaccination staff, centres and supplies are in place. Obviously, we must ensure that we get the right supplies to the right areas. There are varying demographics, depending on the area of the State concerned. As I said, it is vital that this work is done. I would appreciate if the Minister could respond to me on that point.

I am most content with the responses I have received from the HSE. Most of those who were worried at the end of last week and the beginning of this week have received notification of a vaccine appointment. Once again, that is work very well done by our healthcare workers. It is all very positive. I am just worried that we do not have the capacity that will be required when supplies increase. We must ensure that that happens. It is significant. It will provide us with an opportunity in respect of taking the next steps.

Beyond that, I wish to add my voice to what has been said earlier. People need a greater level of clarity from the Government in respect of the roadmap towards reopening. Obviously, like Deputy Tully, I represent a Border constituency. There are issues around people accessing services in the North that still are not available in the South. We are worried about people making potentially long-term choices that may impact upon businesses that have already been put under severe pressure during the pandemic. We accept that we cannot open everything all at once. It must be done safely and securely. Precautions and health measures need to be considered. However, we do need to provide people with timelines, as far as possible. I am hoping that a greater level of detail will be provided on Friday. That is before we get into the issue of anomalies. I know that there are difficulties. People are hearing talk of time limits being imposed when they thought that such issues had been tackled. I refer, for example, to €9 meals and such. In the context of those anomalies that can really annoy people, if there are legitimate public health reasons for taking such measures, they must be explained.

As I have stated, we are taking these steps in a different context. We are doing taking them in the face of a huge vaccine roll-out that has been very successful and we need to ensure that we continue with it as much as possible. None of us is calling for all restrictions to be lifted now. We all know the damage that was done in December and January.

We must do everything in stages and very carefully, but we are doing it in a completely different context. Perhaps the Minister will provide some information on the capacity of the vaccine roll-out and any further information, if there is any, although I doubt that he will give us a sneak preview of what will happen on Friday. However, we need that clarity, be it for individuals, gyms or sporting organisations. In particular, there are issues with regard to hospitality. Everybody accepts that it will not be exactly as people want, but clarity is required, particularly for those who will need to buy materials and goods to ensure they are ready to operate.

There is a wider issue when we talk about signing up to the digital green certificate. We are aware of the current difficulties with our IT systems so we must ensure we are doing all the work at this point to ensure we are ready to run when we need to run, and that we have the systems up and running. I add my voice to the voices of previous speakers with regard to Professor Mark Ferguson's report on antigen testing. Now is the time to introduce any pilot schemes that need to be carried out to see whether this can be operated to allow certain types of openings or in respect of helping aviation. We must do the heavy lifting now. The heavy lifting has been done to some degree already in the sense that we can get information from Britain, Spain, France or other states that have operated pilot schemes. That is another job we need to do. We must ensure that we do not leave it too late and that when we sign up to things such as the digital green certificate, we have the capacity to proceed when we decide to do so, and that there are no technical hitches.

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