Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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540. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of negotiations by Ireland to join the World Health Organization C-TAP initiative; the practical engagement to date by his Department in this initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17596/21]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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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, whose recommendations are being considered by the relevant Government Departments.

Ireland is fully supporting efforts by the international community to ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines for all. The Government quadrupled funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2020, given its role as lead UN agency for health and co-host of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which has the COVAX facility as a centrepiece.

C-TAP touches on key relationships led by multiple Government Departments, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Health and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Officials across these Departments have been working to clarify the details of the initiative, and the potential implications of Ireland’s engagement.

In the meantime, my Department has announced €5 million in Irish Aid funding to support developing countries to access COVID-19 vaccines. Most of this funding is going through the COVAX facility, a global UN-led mechanism for pooling procurement and fair distribution of the vaccines. This is part of at least €50 million allocated by my Department to Global Health in 2021.