Written answers

Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Covid-19 Pandemic

Photo of Duncan SmithDuncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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863. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland will be supporting the TRIPS waiver campaign to waive patents on vaccines and shore up supply of vaccinations to developing countries; the number of vaccines that Ireland has donated to developing countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40811/21]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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.

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. However, International Trade is a competence of the EU under the Treaties and in exercising that competence, the European Commission engages fully with the Member States, including Ireland, through a variety of Committees and Working Parties/Groups, including on Intellectual Property.

As regards the broad waiver proposed by a number of WTO Members, on 4 June, the EU submitted a proposal to the WTO General Council, which proposed that WTO Members could agree on a global trade initiative for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics encompassing the three components of (i) trade facilitation and disciplines on export restrictions; (ii) concrete actions to expand production and ensure supply of vaccines at affordable prices to low and middle income countries during the pandemic and (iii) clarification and facilitation of TRIPS Agreement flexibilities relating to compulsory licences.

The EU has also submitted a Declaration to the TRIPS Council to assist the next phase of discussions with a view to trying to reach agreement with all Members of the WTO on how to achieve the shared goal of expanding production and facilitating equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics for all.

The EU continues to be committed to an open and comprehensive dialogue with all WTO members to explore how the multilateral rules-based trading system can best support universal and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and to continue ramping up production, to share COVID-19 vaccines and medicines more widely and faster and to ensure equitable access to these products for low and middle-income countries.

The EU considers that the COVAX Facility, the international initiative to ensure global access to COVID vaccines, is the mechanism that is best placed to ensure that high-income countries finance vaccines and support for developing countries to secure their share of global supply.

In 2021, through the Irish Aid programme, Ireland has allocated approximately €100 million to global public health. Some €5 million of this has gone directly to support COVID-19 vaccines for developing countries. €4 million of this has been in direct support to the COVAX Facility. It also includes support through Irish Embassies abroad to help partner countries manage the pandemic.

Ireland’s support sits within the broader Team Europe response. While the EU and Member States have committed over €3.2 billion to COVAX, clearly still much more needs to be done. COVAX is beginning to show some real results, shipping over 129 million vaccines to 136 participant countries as of mid-July. Further support to COVAX before the end of the year is under consideration.

Ireland is convinced of the ethical obligation to share surplus vaccines to vulnerable populations in other countries. We are supporting ongoing efforts in Brussels to establish a common EU-wide vaccine sharing mechanism; it is vital to Ireland that this mechanism should support, rather than compete with, the COVAX Facility. As the vaccination rollout makes progress domestically, the Government is actively looking to see when vaccine sharing through COVAX might be possible.

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