-----and where I am the very first person in the Chamber and put my hand up-----

-----I would expect to be called in a fair way.

Sorry, a Chathaoirligh, with respect, and I do not say this in any disrespect to you, I hold you in the highest regard, but when-----

I am sorry, a Chathaoirligh. You were the person who was in the Chair this morning. When I raised my hand, you acknowledged me.

You called my name out as the very first person, and yet I was not called. Is that just the answer?

I think it is fairly obvious what I am saying.

As I will get to in my own contribution, the Minister's opening statement is completely unsatisfactory. We have not got the information we would have expected from the Minister and yet he is sharing his time with a backbencher. We are here to do business with the Minister for Health and to get information and the maximum of clarity and yet he is not using his ten minutes to give us that clarity but is sharing it with a backbencher. It is completely unsatisfactory.

I will make a very short opening statement before moving on to questions to the Minister. I have to say that his opening statement fell far short of what was needed. No timeframes or targets were given and the Minister did not revise the timeframes he had given to Deputies in this House and to the public over recent weeks. It pains me to say it but it is very difficult to retain confidence in the roll-out of the vaccination programme when we are not given the information we should be getting from the Minister for H…

My time is short, a Chathaoirligh Gníomhaigh. My question is a direct one on the 700,000 figure. I want to get information as I have six and half minutes left and I have many questions. Can the Minister answer the question? He said 700,000 people would be vaccinated by the end of March. Is that still the case?

I have to ask the Minister again please to answer the question. It was a very simple, direct question. Is the figure of 700,000 by the end of March still the target?

Is that a "Yes" or "No"?

My reading of the Minister’s answer is that the 700,000 target may not now be met, which is exactly what he has just said. He said last week that we were expecting 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first quarter of this year. It is obvious that is not now going to happen. There are media reports that that figure could be as low as one quarter of that 600,000. Can the Minister give the House any information today as to what the estimation is now for the first quarter of this year for the AstraZeneca va…

I have many more questions for the Minister now on that issue but I do not have the time to put them. On the question of family carers which I asked last week and which I have also asked in various different ways, I got four different answers as to where they will sit. I was told that they could be in group 2, group 4, group 6 and group 10. The Minister said last week that carers who work for the HSE and for private providers are in group 2. Can he give for the first time a straight and consistent answer to this qu…

That is an unsatisfactory answer. Can I point the Minister to the HSE’s own roll-out of the flu vaccine, where carers are seen as a distinct cohort, yet when it comes to this vaccine they are not, and they are concerned about that. As the Minister knows, they do an invaluable job. I also wish to raise the issue of people in long-term care facilities and people with disabilities and the staff who work in these facilities. I am aware, for instance, in my own constituency in Waterford, that many of the staff and resid…

The Government commissioned a report on pay and allowances for student nurses and midwives. Several weeks ago, as the Tánaiste knows, placements for student nurses and midwives in hospitals were paused for two weeks. That comes to an end this weekend and I have had many calls from student nurses and midwives worried that they have not had any calls from the hospitals where they were placed and they do not know whether they are going back to those placements on Monday. Why is that? Has this cancellation of placement…

I will take my time for questions and answers, if that is okay. It is important that we get as much information from the Minister as possible. I will start with some of the concerns that have been put into the public domain and raised in recent times. It is important for us to learn lessons, and the Minister has acknowledged that. We know issues were raised in relation to two hospitals with family members of senior management in those hospitals receiving the vaccine. There is also anecdotal evidence coming from oth…

I thank the Minister. Those lessons have to be learned and that is the most important thing that can happen. I wish to ask the Minister about the regularity of supply. As he said in his introduction, we are all being lobbied by different cohorts of society, whether it is dentists, pharmacists, carers or people who provide home help. There are many genuine questions these people have. None of that will probably change until we have more doses coming in weekly. At this point, how many doses are coming in per week fro…

What is the number from Moderna?

So at the moment it is about 40,000 but we can get more from it. From Moderna we have so far got 2,000, which is a very low number. The next question concerns if and when AstraZeneca gets approval, which we hope will happen towards the end of January. I have spoken to that company. It has done a great deal of advance manufacturing. First, what is the advance purchase agreement we have with AstraZeneca? Second, given that it is easier to distribute and to get into the State in terms of delivery and storage, I imagin…

I have been informed that AstraZeneca has done a great deal of advance manufacturing. While the figure of 600,000 doses in the first quarter is significant, why are they coming monthly? Why not get more? Is it because that is all that have been produced? Are there logistical reasons for getting them monthly? Why not get all 600,000 at once and get them into GP surgeries and pharmacies in order that they are here? People will ask these questions. If the doses have been made and are sitting in locations in England or…