Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome. It is good to see him in the House. If we think back to a year ago, we did not even know if we would have vaccines. We did not know what kind of state the country and the world would be in so even having vaccinations is the first bit of great news. We can be so much in the middle of it that we can forget that we could have been looking at lockdown forever. We are in such a good position now that we are getting over 300,000 vaccinations done per week. I commend the Minister, the Department and, in particular, all of those front-line workers who are administering these vaccinations. I also commend all of those who were going to work not knowing if there would be a vaccine at the end of it.

Even though we are in a race against time, this is about public health and it is about how many people we can get vaccinated and how quickly we can get it done. We also have to remember that within the system, there are those who are more vulnerable. It is fantastic that the Minister says we are number one in the EU for vaccinating the most vulnerable but I know of some who feel they have been left out so I would love to hear the Minister's views on cohort 7. I am a member of cohort 7 and there are some within it who feel that things have not been going quickly enough. From my point of view, maybe some of that is to do with the lack of digitalisation of our healthcare system which means that it can be difficult to identify exactly who is high risk and who is not. I am looking forward to my vaccine in the coming weeks so I know the mop-ups are happening. I hope that many of the people who have been in contact with me will get their vaccinations.

Earlier, we saw the news that only 2% of prisoners have been vaccinated. That is disappointing. I know there have been problems getting the vaccine in quickly enough for prison staff, and that has to be a priority, but the Minister might provide an update because this news has only just broken and reached me today. Some 36 prisoners at Mountjoy Prison had contracted Covid-19 at a certain point. People are in that congregated setting so it seems to be an area of concern.

There is more news today that was trending on Twitter about B.1.617.2 and how it is dominant in the UK. How prepared do we feel for that? Do we feel that if we can keep ramping up vaccinations we will be prepared as a country?

I am delighted to see that Pfizer will be opened to 12- to 16-year-olds. I echo what Senator Clifford Lee said about when we might see that in Ireland. Those are the young people who have been out of school for the longest amount of time. They have been kept at home and they have been away from their friends during a critical time for young people to be social. I would love some great news for that age group, who have left school earlier, having left last Friday.

There were some comments about concerns that were raised in respect of the gatherings in Galway, Dublin and elsewhere. It is completely understandable that, having been locked down for a year and a half, people want to go out and enjoy the good weather. We have to ensure that there are spaces available for them. I was disappointed to see Middle Arch closed after Friday night. I passed by on Friday night and I saw what it was like. I do not envy the police and the volunteers but we need to ensure that we do not only call for an outdoor summer but that we put in place everything to allow people to enjoy that. I know that is not just down to the Department of Health but it is important to put it on the record that we need to have all the facilities in place. The money is there so why are the facilities not in place and how fast can we draw that money down?

I welcome the Minister's comments on Covid-19 vaccines global access, COVAX. Unfortunately it does not come up all that often any more. We need to remember that we have that global responsibility. Where are we as a country on that? This can be a real model for us in that global outreach and responsibility and I would love to see us do it across the board when it comes to climate change and everything. This could be the model and I am delighted that the Minister mentioned it.