Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Nearly a year into our vaccination programme, we know a great deal about the effectiveness of the vaccines. This includes that there is a certain amount of waning immunity after six months or thereabouts - it is different for each of the vaccines. This is why we are rolling out our booster programme, which is continuing apace. We now have well over 1 million people who have received a booster or a third dose in the case of those who are immunocompromised. Today we started appointments and walk-ins for people in their 50s and the HSE continues to increase capacity for the coming weeks. People who are eligible and are at five months since their last vaccine dose, or three months for the Johnson & Johnson, J&J, vaccine, can get an appointment to or a walk-in slot in vaccine centres or seek an appointment with a participating GP or pharmacy. I encourage all people to avail of their booster shot as soon as an appointment is offered or is available, in order to better protect them and others from Covid-19. This is particularly important now in the context of the new Omicron variant.

The House will also be interested in the latest advice from the national immunisation advisory committee. I received and accepted this advice in the past two days. We will now proceed to offer vaccines to five to 11-year-olds in the coming weeks. A full operational plan is being worked on by my Department and by the HSE, and we will receive the first delivery of paediatric vaccines in approximately a week's time. Full information for parents is also being developed to ensure they can make an informed choice for their children.

As our booster and vaccination campaign progresses, we must all take steps to protect ourselves and those around us by continuing to follow basic public health guidance. I ask that people continue to reduce their discretionary social contacts where they can, prioritise the activities they undertake, particularly when it pertains to the higher-risk activities, and take regular antigen tests if they engage in activities in the higher-risk environments. This message is particularly important as we approach Christmas, with many families planning to spend the holidays together after what has been a very difficult year for so many people in this country.

Ireland has done well in our work to keep people safe during Covid, while keeping as few measures in place as possible. This is thanks to a national effort involving every family, every community, many businesses and many different programmes rolled out by the State. We have all seen that in this evolving pandemic, nothing is certain and we must be able to adjust and to adapt. Sometimes we need to be able to adjust and adapt very quickly. Sometimes that may mean for a short period of time taking a small step backwards to ensure we can move forward quicker in the future. The measures provided for in this Bill are, unfortunately, necessary for now to ensure that we can keep people safe, and continue to respond to the new challenges this disease poses.

In essence, what this Bill is about is being able to keep measures in place, such as the Covid pass and face masks. There may be other measures around it but at present, these are some of the main measures pertaining to this Bill. Without this Bill we would lose the statutory ability to be able to respond as necessary and in a proportionate manner to the ongoing threat to public health that Covid causes.

The timing of the Bill is set deliberately in order that it has a sunset clause, which is the end of March. It can only be extended for one period, which requires votes from both Houses, and that period can be for a maximum of three months. There are important democratic safeguards in place to make sure that the powers in the Bill are proportionate, that they are time limited, and that they have significant oversight and input from the Oireachtas.

I hope that all Members of the House will support the Bill as we keep individuals, families and communities safe, as we keep our health workers, our nurses, our doctors and everyone working across the healthcare system safe. We also will be keeping safe non-Covid patients as we protect our healthcare capacity for those who need it, both for the Covid patients who, thankfully, are the minority and for the non-Covid who make up the majority.