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

More broadly, without doubt the Omicron variant has created a very strong sense of urgency. There is no question about that. It is vital that we vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible. To be fair, every effort is being made. We are working with GPs and pharmacies and the Defence Forces are helping by providing additionality with logistics support for the booster campaign.

We are number one in Europe in terms of the primary vaccination programme and the number of people vaccinated. We are fourth in Europe with our booster campaign, with approximately 1.25 million boosters administered, starting on 4 October based on advice from the national immunisation advisory committee in respect of when to commence those vaccinations.

Deputy McDonald raised the issue of communications, people's behaviour and so forth. People took up very quickly the core message over the past two months, particularly our intervention around behaviour, working from home and so forth. They were not confused by the central message on the need to adjust behaviour in response to the Delta variant wave, getting hospitalisations and ICU admissions down. The result has been a reduction and stabilisation in the numbers admitted to hospitals and ICUs. People have got the message fairly clearly in terms of behaviour and so forth.

I take issue with a comment from the Deputy when she said that at the weekend I laid the blame on the CMO and his team. I certainly did not and whoever wrote that script for the Deputy should rewrite it and stop being divisive like that now because I do not lay the blame on the CMO, nor have I ever laid the blame on him. I have great respect for the CMO and his team, NPHET and public health advice. I have been very consistent since my days in opposition when the pandemic started that public health advice had to be central to combating this pandemic. The Deputy knows this because she was in the same room when I said it to the then Government. Deputy Shortall and others were in the room at that stage. That has always been my view and I do not lay the blame on anybody. I do not know the context but it seems to have been a deliberate "mis-spin" from the Deputy or her scriptwriter in respect of my behaviour at the weekend.

On the question of schools, we have again followed public health advice all the way. It has been the consistent approach from the beginning of the pandemic. A specialist team from the HSE has advised consistently on how to approach schools in respect of that.

The overall picture is that the booster vaccination programme is gaining momentum. There will be further developments and expansion of it. Our focus right now is on really expanding the programme and ensuring people are conscious of the significant threat that the Omicron variant represents. Its potential impact is a matter of real concern to us all.

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