The national task force envisages having the portal up and running in mid-April, perhaps the third week in April. I will get the specific dates for the Deputy. That is the intention. On the specifics of each company, I will get the details on each of them for the second quarter for the Deputy. On average, between April and May, we are looking at 2 million doses with a higher amount in May over April. It is 860,000 by the end of April with a higher amount in May. Delivery schedules will determine the weekly administ…

The Beacon is a good vaccination centre. It was facilitating vaccinations, particularly for the people in that area, as efficiently and effectively as it could.

I reject what the Deputy has said. He accused the Government and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, of not negotiating or engaging on the issue of fisheries during the Brexit negotiations. I consulted with fisheries representatives and so did the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, who had ongoing engagement with Michel Barnier. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine also had an ongoing alliance with counterparts from like-minded countries in respect of the f…

Everybody knew that a no-deal Brexit would have been the ultimate disaster for fisheries because of the historic catch we have in British waters. Everybody knew from the moment Brexit was announced and was later passed by referendum, that we were in difficulty as regards fisheries. Deep down, the fishing industry realised that. I recall meetings four years ago at which the consequences of Brexit for fisheries, and Irish fisheries in particular, were well known. I have never thought Brexit was a good idea. The Deput…

We certainly had to avoid a no-deal Brexit. I am sure the Deputy will accept that a no-deal Brexit would have been a disaster for fishing. In that context, we fought for as high a share of quota for the Irish fishing industry as we possibly could in order to ensure we can create viability into the future. It is an extremely difficult deal for fishing. We are not at all happy with Brexit and its implications for fishing but neither would I do as the Deputy has done, which is to try to make this a simplistic issue. H…

The Minister has established a task force on the Irish fishing industry and creating a sustainable future for it. Resources will be allocated to ensure that and to continue to fight for and ensure balance in quota distribution. I wrote to the President of the Commission in the aftermath of the deal pointing out the disproportionality of the deal on fisheries with the United Kingdom and its implications for the Irish fishing industry and the need to quickly restore balance to the member states' fishery quota shares.…

On Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, COVAX, and what Dr. Mike Ryan has said more generally, Ireland and indeed the European Union is the strongest contributor to COVAX and, as we know, given the EU’s strong manufacturing capacity with manufacturing sites across Europe, it is one of the biggest contributors globally to the distribution of vaccines which are paid for by other countries but are manufactured within the European Union geographically. Funding and policy-wise Europe is contributing hugely to COVAX because …

I always defer to the clinical advice on this. The Deputy is aware of reports from Brazil on massive reinfection in parts of-----

It is mainly massive reinfection-----

----- from people who had felt that they would be protected-----

-----from antibodies. We cannot ignore that reality. I prefer the cautious approach and when we said we wanted to vaccinate healthcare workers, it was, incidentally, warmly received in hospitals and the relief there and in nursing homes was overwhelming and could be seen when people were vaccinated. I am not sure we are talking about a huge cohort of people here in any event. There are the two issues: the compulsory issue and the issue on antibodies. I would err on the side of caution on the antibody question and d…

There will be statements tomorrow on the "RTÉ Investigates" programme and the issues raised in it. There will be 100 minutes provided for the debate tomorrow, in accordance with the wishes of the Business Committee and the House. Again, I say to the House in respect of Deputy Barry and others, and I am very clear on this, the role of government is to act as advocates for children. In my role as a Minister with responsibility for education and health my objective was always to prevent litigation and to provide the s…

I would welcome the Oireachtas Committee on Health assessing it. This is an important point with regard to examining this issue in its entirety and bringing forward witnesses. I want the full truth on this out there. I have no issue with that happening.

The Department itself is preparing an urgent brief that will facilitate Deputies also. This is an important point because assertions are being made. I welcome the fact that objectivity is being brought to this also. I take what Deputy Naughten has said, that this is a broader issue with regard to other litigation relating to vaccines and other issues. The debate will be held tomorrow, with statements and questions and answers in the House. This has been facilitated. Deputy Pringle raised issues that we discussed on…

I ask Deputy Tóibín to withdraw the statement he just made to the effect that the HSE is in combat with patients.

Let us get a sense of perspective here. The HSE and the many people who work for it day in and day out are working to protect the lives of people. That needs to be acknowledged. It is outrageous that a Deputy would say that. The Deputy made a general statement that the HSE is in combat with patients. That is an outrageous statement.

It lacks perspective. It lacks any balance. We are talking about people who are on the front line, working every day to protect people.

I think that should be withdrawn.

Agreed.

The Government has laid the order before the House. This is apportioning blame in advance. There is an Oireachtas committee that can examine everything, and there is no issue there. Again, in the context of the assertions that have been made, I stated earlier that I never authorised anything. Innuendo, of course, is Deputy Barry's favourite pastime - to damn people by innuendo and by making assertions he cannot stand over.