Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the Chamber. I thank her very much for her informative address. I am very glad to hear that there will shortly be a public information campaign on the schedule for the roll-out of vaccination because my office is getting a lot of queries from people who are concerned about how to get the vaccination. They wonder where they should go, whether they have to register and what they should do. It is therefore great that there will be a campaign. Will the Minister of State speak to those in her Department to ensure this information will also be available in Irish? A lot of the regulations and public health information so far have only been provided in the English language while the information that has been provided in Irish is incorrect and completely insufficient. I want to see a very comprehensive campaign in Irish rolled out at the exact same time as the campaign in English. Irish is the first language of our country and it is only right and proper that people's language rights are respected in that regard.

I understand that the vaccination schedule is a moveable feast because the Government is not fully aware of the supplies that will be available but people need to be given as much certainty as possible. I know that the Minister of State will endeavour to give that certainty.

The Minister of State referred to the independently devised vaccination strategy which was approved by NPHET and then by the Government. While the strategy is outside of the political sphere and it is not open to people to lobby to change it, priority should really be given to people in category 9, that is to say, people aged 18 to 65 who are living or working in overcrowded settings.My colleague, Senator Flynn, spoke this morning about the difficulties facing the Traveller community right across Ireland at the moment. Priority should be given to these vulnerable communities, who are living in dire conditions without electricity or running water and who already suffer from health inequalities. Extra support should be granted to them. I am sure Senator Flynn will talk about that but I just wanted to relay my support and that of the Fianna Fáil group on that issue. Senator Flynn spoke about isolation facilities that should be made available for people who are doing their absolute utmost to stay safe and stay away from this deadly virus. In countries such as Canada, communities like the First Nations peoples were prioritised and similar prioritisation should be given here.

The Minister of State is doing an awful lot of work around the clock in the Department of Health. It is perhaps the busiest Department and the busiest period it has ever had. We completely support what is being done with the vaccine roll-out; it just needs to be clearly communicated. I wish the Minister of State the best of luck over the coming months.