Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The clearest sentence of his written response is the first, which states he believes in universal and equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines.

I agree with the Minister of State completely, but that is not happening. Europe has led the way with a market approach to the production and distribution of vaccines, meaning we are left with the companies making a huge profit and a totally inequitable system. Vaccine inequity persists, according to Oxfam. Some 13% of people in low-income industries have received two doses, compared with 75% of those in high-income industries. Less than 1% of people in low-income countries are boosted, compared with more than 60% in Ireland. The figures speak for themselves, as do the figures for public funding. Up to 97% has gone into AstraZeneca for research and development. We are unclear what public funds went into the other companies to help them have massive profits. The sentence in the beginning has not been followed through.

See this speech in context