Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said he was committed to universal access and that it is crucial. The rest of his response reflects how from this Government and at European level there has been fudge, kicking it down the road and the line in relation to there being no single solution. Previously, it was suggested that the answer was not a TRIPS waiver and compulsory licensing might be a better option. Delay, delay, delay. All that delay denies people access to vaccines.

The presentation at the Oireachtas committee from Professor Aisling McMahon pointed to the weakness of the QUAD proposal. It is weaker than the initial proposal that was being considered. It primarily applies to patents and not to other IP rights. She spelled out the weaknesses of the proposal and it is not acceptable.

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