The briefings we have in terms of timelines are as follows: on Thursday, suspicious activity was detected by the Department of Health’s IT team. It contacted the National Cyber Security Centre, which provided technical advice on what to do in response. Further to that, there were attacks on both the Department of Health’s systems and the HSE’s systems. The information we have been provided with is that those attacks commenced at 3 a.m. on Friday. None of the briefings we have had since have contained any informatio…

What I can tell the Deputy is that we have had several reasonably extensive and technical briefings and there has been nothing in any of the briefings I have seen that has suggested additional attacks continued. It is worth saying, though, that the experts made the point repeatedly that the systems, including the HSE systems, the Department of Health systems and numerous other systems, both public sector and private sector, around the country - our healthcare infrastructure - are the subject of ongoing attack. Thes…

The latest position is as follows. In order to bring all HSE services back, the current estimate is that it is going to take several weeks as these services and devices are gone through one by one. However, at the same time, there are certain priority areas which are being focused on, and these include radiology, radiation oncology, patient administration systems and the voluntary hospitals. The rationale for the voluntary hospitals is that not all but some of them were better protected with their stand-alone syste…

I thank the Deputy. Daily updates would be very useful. At the moment, the very latest I got from the HSE, just before coming into this session, is that to get all of the systems back up and running, that is, the 2,000 servers and the 80,000 machines, is going to take several weeks. It is a huge effort, with hundreds of people involved right across the country. At the same time, there are priority areas the HSE is focusing on, and that includes radiology, radiation oncology, the patient administration system and th…

What I can tell the Deputy is that, regardless of any formal invoking of contracts, the private healthcare sector is working with the HSE now. For example, the HSE is working with some of the providers on some of the priority areas that I just outlined to the Deputy. The Deputy will be aware that a safety net agreement was put in place for Covid which can also be activated. In my experience over the last 12 months, when these things happen people really put on the green jersey. I have no doubt that the private prov…

I can get the Deputy a more detailed briefing if it is useful. There are a lot of people involved, the HSE operations people, clinical leads, the HSE IT teams and partners, that is, some of the cybersecurity firms mentioned earlier, some security experts from Ireland, from various firms - there is a sort of war room which has HSE clinical and a wide variety of technical and cyber experts.

I will start by thanking colleagues across the House for their time this evening and for their input, questions and proposals. It is very galling that our public healthcare system and our patients, some of the most vulnerable people in the country, are the victims of this vicious criminal attack. It is a despicable attack which shows scant regard for human health or human life. I acknowledge the very real anxiety that patients right across the country are feeling tonight, felt earlier today and yesterday and will f…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to update the House on the Government’s response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the roll-out of the national vaccine programme. Considerable progress has been made in reducing infection levels since the start of the year. The main reason for this is widespread adherence to the public health measures. I and my colleagues are very aware of the enormous imposition these measures have had on people, on mental health, on isolation, on loneliness, on wellness, o…

-----were administered.

I will ask. There have been copies every time we have come in here.

The Deputy keeps asking and I keep telling him the copies are available outside. I will make sure he gets a copy.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, can I continue with my speech?

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I want to say to the Deputy that previously copies of my speech were available. On this occasion, I have them. I was running late, but as soon as I finish I will furnish the Deputy with a copy, if that is okay. I was talking about the vaccination programme. A total of 1,655,866-----

Yes. I have them all here, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I was talking about the vaccination programme. A total of 1,655,866 vaccine doses were administered as of 4 May 2021. Some 1,201,373 people have received their first vaccine dose and 454,493 people are fully vaccinated. As of this morning, 430,758 people have registered to be vaccinated on the public online registration system. This means that 77% of those aged between 60 and 69 have made use of it. It is important to note that the percentage of 65 to 69-year-olds registering is …

I thank the Deputy for his question. I want to say at the outset that the objective, which we all share, is global distribution of the vaccine. That is important for two reasons, as we have discussed here previously. One is that it is ethical and absolutely the right thing to do and, second, it is in our interests. There is no point in Ireland or, indeed, the western world being vaccinated if much of the rest of the world takes several years. The only question is what is the best way to do it. Ireland is continuing…

We will most definitely continue to be a voice within the European Union stating that there must be global justice and an acceleration of vaccine production and distribution right across the world. The only question for us is what is the right way to do that. There are differing views as to whether a simple waiver achieves those aims. It does not identify many of the other bottlenecks. I am sure the Deputy knows that the EU has set up a task force to look specifically at what the bottlenecks are so we can accelerat…

I will get the Deputy a detailed breakdown. My understanding is that it might be slightly different in the 65 to 69 age category than it is for those in their 50s. There are also some regional differences. I will ask the Department to supply the Deputy with a detailed response.

This is one of the good news stories of the vaccine programme and the considerable reduction in cases of Covid-19 in healthcare settings, including maternity hospitals. The maternity hospitals are making local calls themselves. As the Deputy is aware, there are different rates of disease around the country and hospitals are faced with different local epidemiological situations. I will, of course, support the local infection prevention and control decisions that are made by the hospitals but I want to see, as we all…

Do I have the Deputy's remaining time to respond?