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

It is fair to say that we are not beyond the Covid pandemic yet and are still dealing with something that is incredibly serious and dangerous. That needs to be top of the agenda at the European Council. It goes without saying that the conversation on vaccines must include a discussion on booster shots. That is absolutely necessary and everyone here would be very supportive of that. That said, I add my voice to those who have said that we need to get to grips with the fact that none of us is safe until all of us are safe. We must put a plan in place to ensure the plentiful supply of cheap vaccines to the developing world although I do accept that there are significant logistical difficulties. Some have said that the TRIPS waiver is a misnomer and arguments have been made for the protection of pharmaceutical companies in the context of research and development, although I would not always be open to listening to them. The fact is that we need a solution. Pharmaceutical companies are part of the world and they need to be part of the solution. The European Council, the Commission and the EU also needs to be part of a solution. I am not worried what it looks like. I am not worried whether we call it the TRIPS waiver or we engage the waiver, as long as we come up with a solution that delivers. That is what needs to be done.

I also agree with what many have said in relation to the situation in Poland and the absolutely brutal breaches of the rule of law. I understand that the EU is putting leverage mechanisms in place. There are certain questions that are before the European Court of Justice at the moment and we need them to be progressed as soon as possible. Obviously it would be better to deal with these issues through talking but leverage may be required and recovery and resilience funding is relevant in that regard because money talks.

It goes without saying that everyone here agrees that the protocol is the only show in town. Vice-President Šefčovič and the European Commission have shown how far they are willing to move in order to deliver solutions that will make a difference, particularly for people in the North from all communities. They are working to provide solutions for farmers and business people and officialdom has kicked in. While there is terrible mood music coming from certain elements within unionism and from the British Government, we need to plough on with solutions. We need to ensure that every part of the European project is aware of where we stand in relation to that and of the absolute necessity of protecting the Good Friday Agreement.

We also need to deal with the wider issue of the energy crisis. Some of that can only be dealt with at European Council level and it must be put at the top of our list of priorities.

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