Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think the Deputy has raised a fair point in terms of ventilation. Guidance has issued in respect of ventilation in our schools, which resulted in CO2 monitors being provided to schools across the length and breadth of the country.

Close to 90% of over-12s in the population have been vaccinated. The vaccines are very effective against severe illness, hospitalisation, death and admission to intensive care. Two thirds of people in intensive are unvaccinated. There is a waning effect. We know that. The manufacturers have said that, but also Israel and other authorities are essentially saying that, after six months, there is a waning effect. Now, there is a lot of academic work and research ongoing in respect of that, looking at the degree of antibodies required to protect against various levels of infection or illness, but suffice it to say that the Deputy has raised a very important point that we have to keep this under analysis.

The public health experts believe our close proximity to the UK, the high incidence of the disease as we were vaccinating, the Delta variant in particular, which is very transmissible, and the seasonality of our climate and resulting behaviours in terms of indoor activity could be factors in explaining why a country with high vaccination has very high incidence of the disease.

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