Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned my former colleagues in the Defence Forces a number of times in his speech. I record my deep appreciation to the Army and Naval Service for the work they did on the ground in building test centres, being prepared to meet people or have centres ready for them, and to our Air Corps which flew tests to Germany and vaccines to the islands. My one regret in all of that - and it has nothing to with the Minister or his Department - is that we did not find a way of making ex gratiapayments to soldiers, sailors and airmen for the extra work they put in. Most other people who worked overtime were paid overtime, time-and-a-half or double-time money. Soldiers got duty money. That is a matter for another time.

I must compliment the Department. There was a lot of toing and froing, vaccines were coming or they were not, we expected to hit this or that number, but in the end it is moving along in the way we expected it. Nothing is ever certain in that type of situation. I am fortunate enough to have had the first dose of AstraZeneca, which I had grave reservations about taking, largely because of the public relations surrounding it. I am now concerned having listened to some of the medical experts speak about the second dose. It seems the risk of clotting is higher in the second than the first dose. It is now recommended that the second dose is Pfizer or Moderna. The Minister is shaking his head but I am merely telling him what we are hearing on the airwaves. We need clarity on that.

Those who continued to keep this country running while we were without vaccines include staff members in the Houses of the Oireachtas and every local authority in the country.Supermarket workers, truck drivers, bus drivers and Luas drivers went out daily to fulfil the duties that were needed to keep this country running in some way or other. We must place on record our grateful appreciation for those people.

I am somewhat disappointed that we let teachers down with respect to the vaccine. Teachers mix with more of a mixed group of people than anyone else. I am disappointed that we did not move them up the scale for vaccination. Such is life and that is the way things go.

When I went to access a vaccine in Citywest, I was extremely impressed with the overall organisation. A number of activities were going on, as the Minister pointed out in his speech. When I was driving in the gate, I was asked whether I was there for a test or a vaccine and was moved into the appropriate area. There were literally hundreds if not thousands of people passing through the centre when I got my vaccine but, that notwithstanding, the nurse who administered my vaccine took all the time in the world to allay any fears I had and explain things to me.

I cannot tell the Minister the difference vaccination is making to people of my vintage. My wife had the pleasure of her two grandchildren coming to stay last Thursday and Friday for the first time in approximately 18 months. The joy on all three faces was unbelievable. My youngest grandchild said to her father approximately three weeks before that visit that she had a dream in which her nana had a vaccine and they could go back to playing with her on Thursdays. It is great when little kids are thinking like that.

I am concerned that because of the good news out there with respect to the vaccine, we are running a little ahead of ourselves as was demonstrated by the crowds who gathered in Galway, Cork and Dublin at the weekend. People such as the Minister have a difficult task to drive home the message that we are not home yet and have a long way to go.

I am anxious to see the airline industry come back in some guise as quickly as possible. Everybody in Europe is recommending antigen testing. Some pilots had a big demonstration outside Leinster House last week and called for antigen testing. I do not understand why Ireland has not bought into antigen testing. I am interested to hear what the Minister has to say on that issue.