Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have two matters to raise and the first is in respect of vaccines. Other Senators have mentioned the importance of the booster programme, but there are certain people falling between the cracks. For example, I am aware of one individual who was hospitalised and therefore missed the appointment with her GP and did not have the opportunity to avail of the booster vaccine from her GP. Those vaccines do not appear to be administered in hospital, so can something be done to ensure people do not miss out because of that and to ensure we have the greatest possible coverage? I agree with colleagues who have said we must advance this process and progress it as much as possible.

The second matter I wanted to mention is the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year. We as a House and as part of the Legislature should be making clear our difficulties, as indicated by several Senators, with the manner in which China conducts its business on the international stage. The Olympics next year will be an opportunity for us at the diplomatic level to make a very clear statement that we diplomatically boycott those games and send the message that Ireland, while not affecting its competitors, will not at an official level support the Chinese hosting of these games. Were there to be such support, with it would come an endorsement of Chinese activities around the Uighur minority and the attitude to freedom of speech and expression in Hong Kong, not to mention the country's attitude to Taiwan etc. I call for a debate on the matter so we can make a very clear statement on this as a House and as legislators that we have serious difficulty with this. We should call through that debate for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics next year.