Dáil debates

Thursday, 9 December 2021

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Covid-19 Pandemic

11:10 am

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste knows, there is a huge push for the TRIPS waiver.

It has come from so many organisations. More than 100 countries have asked for this, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. The nursing unions were the latest, with about 30 of them throughout the world, including the Vaccine Alliance and so on. In our country, 400 leading scientists have expressed a similar view. No progress has been made on this.

I welcome the figures the Tánaiste gave on vaccines. A total of 1.3 million vaccine doses will be given to low-income countries this year, and he might give us a breakdown of that. Nevertheless, he stated trade is a competence of the EU, but health is not. This is a health issue. Trade is subservient in this regard. He talked about not interfering with the entrepreneurial spirit but that too is questionable to me because all the vaccine production has been financed predominantly by, as I understand it, public money.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.