Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements
Dail Éireann — 2021-04-28
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Alan Kelly (LAB), Tipperary

Did the Taoiseach invite President Biden to Ireland? I am hearing different stories and information from both sides of the pond on this. As the Taoiseach knows, President Biden intends to visit the UK and he could include Ireland as part of that. The Taoiseach might confirm whether he has officially invited him and, if so, will he give us some details?
One of the main components was the issue of vaccines. I have raised this issue previously. Through the People's Vaccine Alliance various people have come together to fight for this. We all know what is going on in India at present. It was proposed by India and South Africa at the WTO to ensure we can get vaccines throughout the world quickly. This is the biggest test of mankind for many centuries with regard to how we will get it out quickly. The open sharing of information and technology will end the pandemic quicker. Did the Taoiseach raise the issue of patents and intellectual property with President Biden? If so, what was the discussion like? I presume the Taoiseach is supportive of the WTO TRIPS waiver and I presume the Government will support it.
I heard what the Taoiseach said about the issues of the Northern Ireland protocol and people who are undocumented. Will we appoint an envoy to represent Ireland as we had previously? If not, why not? Was there any discussion on future travel and movement between the US and Ireland?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:13+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-04-28