I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to answer the question about people who are housebound. I fully agree with the Deputy on testing and tracing. It has been, and remains, an essential part of our response to Covid and it has increased in the past number of days and weeks. In the seven days to 3 May, 124,000 tests were done. Some 4.5 million tests have been completed to date. The positivity rate at the moment is 2.7%. Some 94% of referrals are getting a test appointment in less than 24 hours, which is …

I thank the Deputy for his questions. I absolutely share his view on the maternity services. I heard Paul Reid's comments earlier. Mr. Reid was signalling that the conditions are right to do this. As the Deputy and as that couple will be aware, however, that has not happened yet, which is why the dad is currently outside the hospital. We wish them the very best at this hopefully incredibly joyous time. As I am sure we will agree, to date it has been a decision on a local level. It is not decision for me. It is not …

It is certainly our proposal for Ireland, for example, for anyone coming into country who would like to say he or she is vaccinated. That is all still being negotiated and worked through with the EU. The understanding, and the basis on which we are proceeding, is that member states will be given a fair amount of leniency in terms of what they do locally.

I agree. Pharmacists have an important role to play. I would like to see them playing more of a role. A pilot scheme with 15 community-based pharmacists will start shortly. I spoke to the HSE this week about when the pharmacists are going to be in place. I have expressed my desire to see them playing a more prominent role than they have been. The position to date has been that the capacity they provide has not been required yet based on the volumes we have seen. The GPs, vaccination teams and vaccination centres ha…

What I want and what the HSE has asked for is that there is maximum flexibility in compassion when it comes to maternity hospitals. We all understand why that is. At the same time, the HSE continues to allow local hospitals apply discretion, which indeed they must. Some hospitals are dealing with much higher rates of Covid in the community than others. As I said earlier, we would love as consistent and open a national approach as possible. That is what Paul Reid was speaking to earlier on. However, it is not being …

With regard to pregnant women, I need to be very careful not to be stepping in and providing clinical advice which I am not qualified to give. The context is as follows. NIAC recommended that pregnant women should be offered an mRNA vaccine between 14 and 36 weeks following an individual benefit-risk discussion with their obstetric caregiver. While there are currently no data published from clinical trials specifically evaluating the EMA-approved Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding women, there are ongo…

I start by offering the Deputy my congratulations on the birth of his daughter some time ago and on the future birth this year. My wife and I had our first two children very close together. While I congratulate the Deputy, we might have a conversation later about coping mechanisms for the very long tunnel that he is about to enter. In terms of the 24-hour vaccination centres, this came from the minutes of a NPHET meeting where it was discussing the issue and may have contacted the HSE about it. We may or may not ne…

The advice came in from NIAC and the HSE is currently working through it. I will read from the latest presentation from the vaccine task force as of this week. On the NIAC recommendations in regard to the vaccination of pregnant women, it states: "This will be implemented and a working group is being established, led by the women and infants programme, to develop the referral pathway and an operational plan as soon as possible". That is the latest report direct from the task force. Both the Deputy and I want to see…

It will be in the coming weeks. I have discussed this at length with the HSE. I want to see pharmacists playing a more prominent role in this. I know they are ready to go and we have had an agreement in place with them for a very long time. The IT systems and portals for the pharmacists are being piloted with a number of community pharmacists right now. As I said earlier, the view from those in the vaccine programme is that the capacity they bring has not been required yet. However, the volumes are increasing very …

I will read the exact advice on this from NIAC. It is the AstraZeneca recommendation for dose 2 interval. The HSE points out that much complexity is involved. Dose 2 for the over-50s and for those who are very high risk or a high risk will be given at 12 weeks. That is from mid to late May, in line with supply. For the under-50s who do not have a high-risk or very high-risk underlying condition, it will be administered on a 16-week basis. The majority of people the Deputy speaks about will be under 50. Some may hav…

They should be notified. The two distinctions are people aged 50 and older and then under 50. The people aged 50 and older will have an interval of 12 weeks. Those under 50 with a high-risk or very high-risk condition will also have an interval of 12 weeks. For those under 50 without a high-risk or very high-risk condition, the interval is 16 weeks.

The broad intention is that they would receive AstraZeneca. There may be cases where, if there is availability of an mRNA or Janssen vaccine, it can be used. We have received very little Janssen vaccine so far. The Deputy is aware we have started rolling that out now to homeless people, which is really positive to see. It is possible, at the margins, that some people in the group will receive an mRNA or Janssen vaccine based on availability of supply. The numbers are low. The broad thrust is that they will receive …

How long do I have?

Okay. The Deputy asked when the European Medicines Agency, EMA, will approve certain additional vaccines and that is a question that only the EMA can answer. I know it has a rolling review in place for vaccines. I will ask for a note to be sent to the Deputy on the position of various vaccines within the rolling reviews. The Deputy should remember the registration fee paid by nurses is not to the Government but to the nursing professional body, which has been a really important part of the ongoing progress and deve…

I thank the Deputy for the questions and his kind comments. There is definitely a good political team in the Department of Health and there is a good working relationship with the HSE. It was good to see movement happen on Youghal that quickly. The Deputy raised points on the ongoing response and there was a comprehensive, rapid and flexible response to exactly the points he made. I can assure him that we will continue to work with the Department and the HSE so that the services he is advocating for and the people …

I thank the Deputy for all those questions. On the housebound, the National Ambulance Service is doing a huge amount of work. As the Deputy will be aware, we worked with the HSE to increase the capacity available. The ambulance fleet that is directly allocated to this has been doubled and additional personnel were put in place to support the administration of the programme as well. The Deputy specifically asked about a constituent of his who is under 70. The Deputy's constituent needs to work with her local GP. The…

The pharmacy network will also be involved.

I thank the Deputy. I want to see a global solution to this. We cannot have a situation where poorer countries are locked out of vaccinating their populations because they cannot afford it. It is ethically unacceptable and it would also be really stupid on behalf of the western world because the virus will continue to circulate. We need to do it for ethical reasons and for reasons of self-interest also. The Deputy and I might have different views on the economic system and the pharmaceutical companies' right to mak…

I thank the Deputy. The Government is working with the EU on this. I have told the Deputy what my view is. The Government is working through this very closely with our colleagues in the EU. The EU's position is that the WTO TRIPS Agreement already allows countries a lot of flexibility that is not being used. For example, it allows compulsory licensing, which is when a Government permits someone else to produce a patented product, which essentially is what Deputies Barry and Gino Kenny are advocating for. This is al…

I will take back to the HSE this evening what the Deputy suggested and ask if that can be done. I thank Deputy Flatherty.