Deputy Kelly readily acknowledged that he is not an immunologist or an expert in this field.

Most people who say they are not experts then go back to the age-old notion of common sense as a back-up. The point is that the vaccination programme is going well and that it is going well through the age cohort approach and through the vaccination centres. One of the most pleasing aspects of it is the very high level of participation by people as we go down through the age cohorts. Our level of participation is very high relative to our European counterparts and other countries and that is giving good protection …

The Deputy needs to be fully up front-----

-----about what he is proposing. In terms of AstraZeneca-----

In the context of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the announcement has already been made that the second dose is being brought forward. What was to have taken nine weeks, namely, the administering of the second dose, will now take five. That is happening as we speak and the HSE is engaged with that plan. Basically, we will be finishing the second dose of AstraZeneca three to four weeks earlier than was to have been the case. However, we need the necessary supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine and, in particular, the mRNA va…

I will have the matter of the Janssen vaccines and its administration in pharmacies looked at. The HSE has already announced that it will move from the current 12-week interval for AstraZeneca vaccine doses down to eight weeks. It has said that within five weeks, we will achieve that eight-week interval. I can double-check that with the HSE for the Deputy but that is the target. Essentially, it is compressing that process.

It was announced publicly.

I am always glad to help or oblige the Deputy on this. It is good news and important. The big issue all along has been supply and the mRNA vaccines in particular have played an outstanding role. AstraZeneca has increased its supply and we are getting greater visibility over that supply, which is positive. Again, we hope the manufacturers and the global supply chain can improve their performance. The vaccine bonus is what it is. It will continuously be reviewed by the Chief Medical Officer and his team. The latest d…

I thank Deputy Naughten for raising the issue. As society begins to reopen we will be able to reduce our reliance on many different supports that the Government has provided throughout the pandemic. The Covid-19 temporary assistance payment scheme was established as part of a comprehensive package of support measures for nursing homes at the start of the pandemic. It was originally introduced for three months, to conclude in June 2020, but obviously the continuation of the pandemic meant that there were two further…

That is a separate question, which is more general to the health service. I have consistently said the Government wishes to recognise not only front-line healthcare workers but front-line workers, and is continuing to examine the optimal way of doing this. However, we are not out of the pandemic yet and all our attention and focus are on making sure we continue with progress on the vaccination programme and the very positive impact the vaccination programme is having on the prevalence of the disease and monitoring …

No, I did not say that.

I never said that.

When I visited Donegal last week, it was not a covert visit. The key focus of that was not only to visit a home, meet the Loftus family and see the appalling condition of their home but also to meet the action group, Donegal County Council and the chairperson of the mica action committee on Donegal County Council, Councillor Martin McDermott, who was in the group, to have a long and thorough meeting with them on the issues they wished to raise with me and with the Government in terms of getting this issue resolved.…

It was a good, substantive meeting. Analysis can happen already from the applications that have now come in because many of these are individual homes, as well as local authority homes, as the Deputy will be aware, that have to be rectified.

That is the intention. This has gone on too long. I have looked at the timeline as well. I was not in government for the past ten years but this thing has gone on too long. Homeowners have raised legitimate issues. They have got to be dealt with. I referenced the Attorney General last week. I have an issue with certain people walking away from this. That is my issue. Who supplied the blocks? Who designed them? As for insurance companies and HomeBond, everyone seems to have walked off the pitch. Banks have a role as…

Put your hand on the windowsill and it crumbles. To me, that does need to be pursued. That is what I meant.

I welcome the fact we are having a debate on fisheries. In fairness, Deputy Christy O'Sullivan has been pushing this for some time. It is good we have 200 minutes allocated for the debate, which others have also sought, and we should have it. On the Common Agricultural Policy, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is in talks on that today and on an ongoing basis. We will be able to facilitate a debate, perhaps not this week but certainly-----

A debate is scheduled this week and we will come back to it again. In other words, this will continue for a bit in terms of the Common Agricultural Policy. On the fisheries issue, I have beefed up the social dialogue process within my Department because of the significant issues arising for the fishing industry, not just in the context of the control plan but also in the context of Brexit and other issues, such as next year's review of quota and so on. I am having a social dialogue sectoral meeting with a represent…

No, it is not. We had similar structured dialogue prior to Brexit. We need a structured approach with the fishing industry to deal with the issues in a frank and realistic way and to deal with how we can best help the industry to deal with the significant challenges before it. Unfortunately, distortions that we were against having a debate on the fishing industry were put about the place. A screen-grab of a vote on the Order of Business was used to distort. Someone voting to have an Order of Business was somehow tr…

The Order of Business is agreed by the Business Committee and sometimes people vote for the Business Committee's Order of Business. It does not mean they are against holding a debate on something else. It is unfair to cast that aspersion on Members. When Members vote for an Order of Business that has been agreed by the Business Committee, that suddenly gets translated as these Deputies being against the sector on which another Deputy sought a debate. That is too cynical by half and it goes on far too often in the H…