Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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188. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the Government’s position on the proposed TRIPS waiver on mRNA Covid-19 vaccines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4591/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Universal and equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines, diagnostics and treatments is crucial in the global fight against COVID-19.

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.

The EU proposed an alternative to the TRIPS waiver that relates to the use of the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement. The proposal is targeted and pragmatic and aims at ensuring that governments can resort to compulsory licences, including to export to countries with no or limited manufacturing capacities, in the most effective manner adapted to the circumstances of a pandemic.

The EU is of the view that there is no single solution and that a multi-pronged approach is needed and that discussions should concentrate on how the Intellectual Property system can contribute towards increasing the manufacturing capacity and the equitable access to vaccines around the world.

Despite the postponement of the WTO Ministerial Conference, WTO members will continue to engage in a solution-oriented manner to find an outcome on how the WTO can contribute to an effective response to any pandemic, not just the current one.

Ireland will engage with the European Commission and other member states on the EU position for the WTO discussions including discussions on how the flexibilities within the TRIPS Agreement can contribute towards increasing the manufacturing capacity and the equitable access to vaccines around the world.

The global production of COVID vaccines is increasing rapidly, with more than 11 billion vaccine doses produced by the end of 2021. This figure is predicted to rise to 18-19 billion doses by mid-2022. The EU considers that the COVAX Facility is the mechanism that is best placed to ensure that high-income countries finance the vaccines and support the developing countries to secure their share of global supply. COVAX has so far shipped over 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to 144 countries.

Team Europe has committed 200 million doses to reach low and middle-income countries by the end of this year, mainly through the COVAX initiative and is investing €1 billion to ramp up mRNA production capacity in Africa.

The Irish Government has committed to donate up to five million vaccine doses. To date, 2.9 million dose offers have been formally accepted, primarily via the COVAX facility. Of the accepted offers, 1,511,500 have already been delivered to Uganda, Nigeria, Indonesia and Ghana.

The WHO recently stated that it sees a very positive outlook for supply of vaccines for 2022, that this is predicated on the continuation of dose sharing and manufacturers honouring deals brokered under COVAX, and that unequal distribution, rather than supply, could compromise global access to vaccines.