James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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778. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the position taken by Ireland will be reviewed in respect of a potential TRIPS waiver on Covid-19 vaccines in view of the recommendations made in the Report on the Distribution of Covid-19 Vaccines to Developing Countries compiled by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence; the engagement his Department will seek with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the EU Commission on this issue in advance of the next meeting of the World Trade Organization in April; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15501/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment leads on World Trade Organisation (WTO) matters, including on the current discussion on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.  My Department continues to liaise with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on this and a number of related matters, on an ongoing basis.

In the meantime, my Department has announced an additional €5 million in Irish Aid funding for the response to Covid-19, to enable developing countries access vaccines.  Most of this funding will go to the COVAX facility, a global UN-led mechanism for pooling procurement and fair distribution of vaccines. This is part of the €50 million allocated by my Department to global health in 2021.

I would like to thank the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence for their recent 'Report on the Distribution of Covid-19 Vaccines to Developing Countries', the recommendations of which are being considered across relevant Government Departments.