Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In the midst of the pandemic, accurate and reliable information is vitally important, as it curbs anxiety. Such information about the pandemic should also be readily accessible and easy to understand. If that information happens to report positive progress, it also harnesses hope. Since the start of the pandemic we have gotten daily reports and the tragic statistics of the fatalities. Yet, the way the daily information in respect of vaccines is disseminated and published at the moment leaves an awful lot to be desired. We are given an overall number of six figures and the following night we are given the new figure but the number of vaccines given in the previous 24 hours is not reported, as is the case in the British media. This should not be too hard to do. It would be transparent and would not be about criticising the Government if on some days there were no additions, as was the case in the recent past. We need clear and accessible information on the number of new, increased and additional vaccines given in the previous 24 hours. Otherwise, people at home will be scampering for their pens to subtract from the previous night's figure, and that is only if they were lucky enough to be tuned in to the report of the numbers on the television. This information should be easy to follow. It will be a great injection of hope which we can harness in such challenging times. NPHET and RTÉ must give people easy to follow, transparent and accessible information on a daily basis, especially when it is such good news.