Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the decision made by Government this week in regard to the Covid restrictions and where we are going, the manner in which it happened was embarrassing. I know what it is like to be in government. I have been on both sides of the fence in this House. I know issues arise, but on behalf of the Irish people what happened was embarrassing. It was chaos and it was unacceptable. Ministers at Cabinet either did not understand what was in front of them or they were misled. It was one or the other. They are saying quite forcefully that they did not know that the modelling put in front of them by NPHET did not include the new national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, advice in regard to two vaccine types. That is a fact. I will not have an argy-bargy on it because I do not have time, but it is embarrassing. It should not happen. We need a level of competency from the Government that will deliver for the people.

The decision was made based on data from 23 June. It did not include the following figures. We know about Pfizer and Moderna and how many vaccines are due over the next quarter. In the case of Pfizer, it is 2.3 million and for Modern, it is 850,000. The modelling did not include the expected approximately 900,000 single dose Janssen vaccines and approximately 2 million AstraZeneca vaccines which can inoculate 1 million people. Therefore, an additional 1.9 million people could be inoculated. As we know, there have been changes in regard to the AstraZeneca as regards the four weeks. We all know we are in a race of variant versus vaccines. The Government often asks Members of the Opposition what they would do. For a change, I will offer what I would do.

First, from Monday next, I would roll out the Janssen vaccine to all 18 to 29 year olds who will take it. There would be queues out the door for it. A pharmacist we both know has had 60 Janssen vaccines for two weeks. Only ten of those 60 vaccines have been administered. I would ask NIAC to endorse the study about mRNA vaccines providing five times more protection for the over 60s who have been already administered the AstraZeneca vaccine and who are most vulnerable. I would gather two weeks data from the UK and ensure that we have explored all avenues in relation to the reopening of the hospitality industry so that they can protect people - rushing out ventilation systems. Finally, I would use the next two weeks to ensure that the travel certificate launched today, which Ireland is the only country in Europe not to have proceeded with yet, is used in some way or mirrored in relation to the hospitality industry. In doing all of that, the Government should remodel all of the data so that we get a true picture of where we are going for the Irish people.

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