Shingles Vaccination Programme: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I thank her for being here.
To follow on from Senator Costello, the Government is not opposing this motion. Fine Gael is not opposing it and there is good reason for that other than it being the right thing to do. The presentation of it and the balanced approach that Senator Conway has put towards this Private Members' motion outlines very well why this should be taken seriously by Government. When we speak of how it affects one in three people right across the country and particularly vulnerable people more so, the Government needs to find a way to make sure it is possible to fund it. There are two very strong arguments or issues that need to be overcome. One, obviously, is the cost; €218 million is not a small amount of money that the Government needs to find to be able to fund this. That has to be found from the resources we have. Luckily, at the moment, as a country and as a Government, we have funding and the economy is strong and we are able to consider these things. However, it should not be a reason we do not do it. Sometimes there are things that are the right thing to do, and cost should not be a factor in determining whether we do it or not.
These are people who have lived their lives and done everything right. They have paid their taxes and are good decent people who need support. We cannot expect a pensioner to have to spend two weeks of his or her pension in the year just to get a vaccine when people in almost every other country in the EU and further abroad are able to receive that. As Senator Conway said, we do not want to be an outlier. We want to be a country where people look at our health service and decisions we make, particularly for people over the age of 65, in terms of protecting them. We want to be seen to be ahead of other countries rather than as an outlier. This proposal by Senator Conway is a very good one. It affects people and families in communities right across the country. It is something we need to support and that we need to do. I am looking forward to the Minister of State's response but I ask that he treat this with as much priority as possible, as I know he will, to make sure we can support these people so that they are not left in limbo where they have to make a decision on whether they spend €500 to get a vaccine. Unfortunately, it is just a reality that some people cannot afford it and cannot get it and then suffer on the back of it and have a very traumatic and challenging time with shingles. I am looking forward to the Minister of State's response. I thank Senator Conway for tabling the motion.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05