Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1280. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons that will be able to attend weddings in September 2020 under the revised Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business guidelines. [15893/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, on 19 June 2020, the then Taoiseach, on behalf of the Government, announced the restrictions that would be eased and the measures that will be in place in Phase 3 of the Roadmap for Reopening Society & Business. On Thursday 25th June the Government confirmed the move to Phase 3 of the Roadmap from Monday, 29 June 2020. Information and advice about the restrictions that have been eased as part of Phase 3 and the measures that are now in place are available on the Government website at .

Gatherings of 50 people (indoor) and 100 people (outdoor) are permissible in line with the public health guidance on mass gatherings, which is also available on the Government website at . The limits will increase to 100 (indoors) and 500 (outdoors) in phase 4. This will be subject to continued progressive improvements in the health indicators identified in the Framework for Future Decision-Making described in the Roadmap.

As the Deputy will be aware, religious buildings and places of worship may also now be reopened, in line with public health guidelines. The Government has exempted places of worship from the regulations restricting numbers on mass gatherings. The exemption applies to places of worship only and not to any gatherings that may take place after the religious ceremony such as wedding receptions.

Detailed Covid-19 Guidance has been developed for religious services. The Cabinet Committee reviewed the guidance, which state that an assessment should be carried out for each premises to determine how many can attend within the requirements of social distancing.

The Cabinet Committee decided that where the size of the premises allows for a capacity of greater than 50 this may be permitted only where:

- Social distancing guidelines are adhered to

- The premises can be subdivided into distinct sections (cordoned or marked appropriately) of not more than 50 persons in each section

- There is a minimum of 4m between sections

- Each section has its own entrance/exit route

- There are separate arrangements for elements of the service involving close contact, e.g. the distribution of Holy Communion

- Strictly no movement of people between sections before, during or after the service

- The premises is well-ventilated.

Account must also be taken regarding the risk of congregation by people outside before and after any services, having regard to outdoor overall limits on mass gatherings and arrangements for staggered exiting after ceremonies.

The use of face coverings is strongly recommended for such indoor settings.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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1281. To ask the Minister for Health the initiatives, including transnational initiatives, Ireland is involved in for the development of a vaccine or treatment for Covid-19; if the initiatives are based on a principle of free or affordable global access; if Ireland is participating in the people’s vaccine initiative from UNAIDS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15915/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the availability of a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 is well-recognized as an additional tool to contribute to the control of the pandemic, while simultaneously recognising that the challenges and efforts needed to rapidly develop, evaluate and produce this at scale are enormous.

On 24 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted the launch of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a new global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Within the Accelerator, Gavi, CEPI, and WHO together with multinational and developing country vaccine manufacturers are working on the COVAX (vaccine) Pillar to develop the COVAX Facility.

The Facility provides governments with the opportunity to benefit from a large portfolio of COVID-19 candidate vaccines using a range of technology platforms, produced by more manufacturers across the world, with a bigger market to provide security of demand – often with greater scope than governments or regional groups can support on their own. Even where governments already have access to a portfolio of candidate vaccines, it acts as an insurance policy through economies of scale and portfolio diversification.

Ireland has signed an expression of Interest letter indicating interest in participating in the Covax Facility, and accordingly in procuring vaccines from the Facility for the country.

In addition, to ensure that Europeans have access to a vaccine in a timely and fair manner, the European Commission proposes to conclude a number of advance purchase agreements with vaccine manufacturers. The contracts with companies would take the form of Advance Purchase Agreements (APAs) and would be concluded through a procurement process run by the Commission on behalf of all participating Member States. The related funding would come from the Emergency Support Instrument (ESI). The budgetary authorities, the European Parliament and the Council, have made EUR 2.7 billion available under the ESI. The Commission stands ready to commit the large majority of those funds to APA-related activities.

This process will respect the principle of subsidiarity and Member States competences as the central procurement action would only conclude the APAs with all relevant conditions, whereas the actual purchase and subsequent use of the vaccines product under the resulting framework contract would remain under the responsibility of the individual Member States.

A Steering Board has been established to run the procurement centrally and efficiently. The SB is chaired by the Commission and includes senior officials from all interested Member States to assist and provide guidance throughout the evaluation process. Ireland is represented on the Steering Board. For full transparency, the Commission proposes to report regularly to the Integrated Crisis Political Response (IPCR) on overall progress more generally.