Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the Deputy's first question, the budget for this year was prepared on a no-vaccine basis. No provision was made for expenditure relating to the implementation of the vaccine programme. I subsequently approved an initial reallocation of €200 million. That was previously intended for the purchase of personal protective equipment. The HSE is reporting that as of May, €121 million of that €200 million has been incurred. Our estimates are that the final bill will be well in excess of €200 million.

I will endeavour to get as much detail as I can for the Deputy with regard to the indemnity provided.

I am sorry if the responses the Deputies received have caused frustration. The probable reason for the responses is that the details of the indemnity were not up to each member state. It was essentially a case of whether we wanted the vaccines and if we wanted them, we had to opt in to the indemnity scheme. I will respond in the next reply to the Deputy's broader question on the Meenan report.

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