Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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117. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 101 of 11 May 2021, the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the March 2021 Report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on the Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines to Developing Countries; the status of his engagement with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment with regard to the recommendation to ease intellectual property rights in relation to the vaccines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33904/21]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I have welcomed the March 2021 report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on the Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to Developing Countries. I firmly believe that universal and equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable diagnostics, treatments and vaccines is crucial in the global fight against COVID-19.  I am determined that Ireland, in particular the Irish Aid programme, plays its full part in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ireland has consistently championed collaborative responses to the pandemic, with an emphasis on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. The Government has shown support for sharing COVID-19 related knowledge and research outputs in a number of ways. This includes engagement in the National Open Research Forum, and the granting of non-exclusive royalty-free licenses through Knowledge Transfer Ireland. It also includes Science Foundation Ireland’s alignment with Plan S, an initiative to ensure publicly funded research is openly available, immediately, without embargo for the betterment of societal needs.

Overall, in 2021, the Department of Foreign Affairs through Irish Aid has allocated some €100 million to global health, including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a €4 million donation to COVAX, the vaccine sharing mechanism so far, accompanied by  €1 million to WHO to support their oversight of the response. It also includes support through Irish Embassies abroad to help partner countries manage the pandemic, and direct support provided to countries such as Nepal, and India, in partnership with the HSE. 

Discussions are underway at the WTO on proposals for a waiver on intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment leads on Intellectual Property Rights and World Trade Organisation (WTO) matters, including on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. While it is important to provide access to technologies for production of vaccines, there are other obstacles to rapid scale-up of production, including production capacity, and availability of know-how.  My officials will continue to engage with their colleagues in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as they work with the European Commission and other Member States on the EU position on the TRIPS waiver. 

Consideration is also being given to Ireland’s potential participation in technology-pooling mechanisms such as the Covid Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative. My Department continues to liaise with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on this on an ongoing basis.