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

The point is that what has happened in the world did not happen the last time we had close to a pandemic with SARS. They were all over the place at European level and globally in terms of production of vaccines.

I accept that we need to get vaccines to less developed countries. There are many issues involved. Some of those countries refused the Pfizer and other mRNA vaccines initially because they thought AstraZeneca was going to be the vaccine at the time. The Deputy will recall all the issues with the manufacture and supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine. There is a whole range of issues. I would argue that Europe has been the most progressive contributor on policy and the mechanics of getting this done.

See this speech in context