Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The scale of the Covid-19 response and recovery requires us to utilise all the tools and knowledge that we can mobilise to ensure we have the best defences in place should we be faced with a future global health emergency. We are all aware of the importance of global co-operation in the field of public health. Much of this is technical in nature and involves a wide variety of stakeholders. We believe that Taiwan has expertise to share at a technical level on Covid-19 and other health matters. As the strongest of supporters of the rules-based multilateral order, Ireland advocates for inclusiveness in our international organisations where this is appropriate.

As I said, Ireland adheres to the One China policy. This does not preclude the development of economic and people-to-people links. The participation of Taiwan as an observer at the annual World Health Assembly is now a matter for the wider membership of the World Health Organization but, as the Senator clearly outlined, Ireland is a supporter of such participation.