Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and I look forward to getting that written reply and going through the figures. I believe that the Minister has said that to date it is €121 million - I did not quite catch it - or was it €200 million spent to date?

On the indemnity, it is of vital importance that we know the nature of the indemnity. I am truly tired of getting an official response that the EU negotiated this for us and that is it. I would really like to know what is the business case on that and the risk assessment, or whatever words one uses at the level the Minister is at, to tell us what we have signed up to.

On the scheme for compensation, the Meenan report was published in 2020. The Government has had it since January 2020. Paragraph No. 14 says: "Regarding vaccination programmes the Expert Group accepts that there is a strong moral argument that the State, which actively encourages vaccination, should accept responsibility for those who suffer harm as a result." The expert group stated there are "pragmatic reasons" to support the establishment of a compensation scheme and that "The Expert Group recommends the establishment of a vaccine compensation scheme as a matter of urgency." Perhaps the Minister will comment on that.

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