I thank the Taoiseach for answering one of the three questions. I am delighted to hear that 80% of the population over 16 will be vaccinated by the end of June. That will be an incredible achievement and I look forward to it.

Yes, but it will be a vaccination received. Will the Taoiseach confirm that the portal will be in place in April? Will he confirm that everybody will be able to apply for it? What number of vaccines from the four companies will be arriving here in the three months of the second quarter? On what happened in the Beacon Hospital, the old private school club of access to whatever one wants, whenever one wants, was at play again. The Beacon got access to vaccines and became a vaccination centre early on. There were issu…

I know the hospital did it for free. Considering it had the privilege of doing this and the way in which it administered State product, who made that decision? We need to know.

The news that 14 days after people are fully vaccinated they can meet indoors is both great and to be welcomed. I have seen directly the impact this news has had on elderly people. It does, however, raise issues about where we go from here because this circle of people will get wider. Where are we going regarding vaccination passports or certificates, green certificates or whatever they will be called? The UK is contemplating the introduction of these, as are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Greece and Cyprus, who are all…

When it comes to special education, the decision by the Department of Education to freeze current special education teacher levels at this year's level will mean that education in developing schools that are expanding will see a reduction in support. This is not fair. It will leave vulnerable children without vital supports for a prolonged period. School patrons have already raised this with the Minister. There are also problems with HSE school-age support services. We saw the case of seven-year-old Lexi Forde, who…

Will the Taoiseach confirm to the House that children's shoes will be added to the essential retail list? Given the time period of lockdown and retail being closed, everybody knows that this issue is causing serious problems for children in many families, particularly children of a very young age. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that this issue will be addressed. Antigen testing is finally being rolled out and I very much welcome it. The Taoiseach knows I was the first to raise the question of those tests in the Hou…

I will raise only one issue and that is human papillomavirus, HPV, vaccination. We all know through the questions I asked a week and a half ago that it has dropped from 80% to 53.6%, which is deeply worrying. I am passionate about this, have worked on it for years and having lobbied to get HPV brought in for boys. What will we do to catch up? Students have gone back to school. We need to have a catch-up. There is no information coming from the HSE as to what catch-up programme will be implemented for HPV. I suggest…

What about pharmacists?

I have three questions for the Minister. First, following on from Deputy Cullinane's question, how many doses is the Minister expecting to arrive next week and the week after from the three companies that are giving us vaccines? Will he give me the figures on how many vaccines will arrive from the three different companies next week, which is the last week in March, and in the first week of April?

I have been down this road with the Minister multiple times and I respect the fact these things change. I have no issue with that and I know the Minister does not control the deliveries. However, I do find it extraordinary that he cannot stand up in the Dáil and say today how many doses he expects next week and the week after. That is the reason I did not ask way in advance. It is extraordinary. He is the Minister for Health. He should at least know how many doses are expected next week. Those figures should be in …

The final issue I will raise is very irritating to me and to many others. "The Hard Shoulder" has run this story multiple times. What is going on with the recruitment of vaccinators? We are heading into a critical period. We are now extending the deadline again. I have no clue why we cannot widen the criteria for vaccinators; I have no clue why we need birth and junior certificates or any of these things; I have no clue why professors, GPs, nurses or other retired specialists in healthcare cannot administer vaccine…

A man by the name of Seán from east Galway, the constituency of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, passed away last week. He was a well-known musician and played for numerous Presidents. Seán died from something that was preventable. The reason I am telling this story is because his family wanted me to raise it with the Tánaiste. Seán hardly ever left his house over the past year because he was completely terrified of Covid. Next Tuesday will see a big event when the Government announces where we are going wit…

There is a very important European summit tomorrow on vaccines. What will be the Taoiseach's strategy at that summit? I agree with him on vaccine nationalism, which I do not believe in, and I also do not believe in vaccine ingredient nationalism. However, I do believe in equity and fairness. I ask, therefore, that tomorrow, while we all fight to keep supply lines open and vaccines being produced for us and for those who need them most throughout the world, we also fight to ensure there is equity and fairness in the…

I would like to raise the same issue with the Taoiseach, but coming from the opposite angle. The Labour Party MP, Stella Creasy, secured abortion rights for women in Northern Ireland while her Bill was passed through Westminster. I want to know if the Taoiseach has raised with the First Minister and deputy First Minister the failure to implement this law and put those services in place. We all know that the UK Government has moved to compel the introduction of such services in the North. This is a critical issue fo…

Last week, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth recommended the establishment of a joint labour committee for the early learning and childcare sector. I welcome this move. It is something my colleagues, including Deputies Sean Sherlock, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and Ged Nash and Senator Ivana Bacik, have been pushing for many years. We have been raising it for more than five years. The sooner it is up and running, the better for everyone working in that sector. The sooner we can get an emp…

A report published today by the European Committee of Social Rights, which is part of the Council of Europe, criticises the standards of local authority housing and Traveller accommodation. It states that Ireland is in breach of Article 16 of the European Social Charter. What are the Taoiseach's views on this issue? How will he address it? On the Residential Tenancies Bill 2021, to which reference has been made, we need to decouple the eviction ban from the 5 km limit so that when that limit is changed, it will not…

Hopefully, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be approved today. Is the Minister aware of any of the other EU countries doing deals with the four companies that are producing vaccines? Are any EU countries doing deals? I am not talking about Germany and Denmark, which have bought surplus vaccines that were not being used by other countries. Is the Minister or anyone else in government aware of our colleagues in European countries doing deals with the four companies already approved or due to be approved by the end …

Following on from what the previous speaker said, I appreciate that there is a group at European level that is working on the relationship and contracts with these companies. How many times has the Minister or anyone else in government spoken to AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, or Johnson & Johnson?

For the record, the Government has been in touch with all four companies.

Who are the members of that task force?