Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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863. To ask the Minister for Health the quantity of ultra-freezers owned by the HSE and his Department; his plans to purchase further ultra-freezers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38415/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland is currently involved in an EU Procurement Exercise being operated by the European Commission on behalf of member states to procure a portfolio of suitable, safe and effective vaccines, in sufficient quantities, to combat COVID-19.

I can assure the Deputy of the Government's commitment to the timely implementation of a COVID-19 immunisation programme, as soon as one or more vaccines in the portfolio are approved for use.

In this regard, a cross-Government High-Level Taskforce has been established to support and oversee the development and implementation of the programme. Logistics arrangements are amongst the range of matters which will be addressed in the context of the work of the Taskforce and the State agencies and other stakeholders with which it will work.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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864. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the recent Covid-19 vaccine announcements by companies (details supplied); his plans to purchase these vaccines when available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38416/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the announcements on Covid-19 vaccinations in development that have been in the media in recent days. However, it is important to note that no vaccine for Covid-19 is yet approved for use.

Ireland is currently involved in an EU Procurement Exercise being operated by the European Commission on behalf of member states to procure a portfolio of suitable, safe and effective vaccines, in sufficient quantities, to combat COVID-19.

Any vaccines that are covered by the EU's portfolio will require market authorisation from the European Medicines Agency prior to use.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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866. To ask the Minister for Health the regulations in place to govern hospitals with regard to visitation for end-of-life patients or similar during the Covid-19 restrictions. [38432/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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867. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the concern in Border counties that there is no coordinated cross-Border approach to tackling Covid-19; and the action he is taking to ensure a common approach to tackling the threat to human health on the island. [38433/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There has been significant engagement and cooperation between the Ministers for Health, the Chief Medical Officers, and the Departments of Health in Ireland and Northern Ireland during the pandemic.

An MOU on COVID-19 Response and Public Health Cooperation, was formally agreed by the Chief Medical Officers of the Department of Health and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on 7^thof April 2020.The administrations are seeking to adopt similar approaches, where it is appropriate to do so and on the advice of the respective Chief Medical Officers. Meetings of the North South Ministerial Council are an important pillar in our regular engagements with NI counterparts on COVID-19.

Significant engagement has taken place between Health Ministers, the CMOs and other officials on a range of issues in response to the pandemic, including: modelling and data sharing; public health guidance and messaging; testing and contact tracing approaches; development of tracing apps; health services and travel measures.

These discussions have led to the sharing of papers and learnings from the first phases of the pandemic as well as close cooperation on sector-specific public health guidance. Practical implementation of the MoU has also seen cooperation on critical care capacity, and on discussions related to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Mink farms in Denmark.