The situation the Deputy describes is not one we have at the moment. We are vaccinating several groups in parallel in order to make sure we are using all of the volume of all of the vaccines we get so that we have as fast and effective a programme as possible. However, it may well be the case that we will have excess vaccines as the Deputy said. Given that the countries that we could potentially swap with are in exactly the same position with the same vaccines, I doubt there would be an awful lot of room for manoeu…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I have a different view on his analysis on zero Covid and test and trace but I know that is not what he wants to discuss. My view is we need to be very careful right now. We are in a slightly risky position in that all of the indicators are very positive but we are not through this, to respond to the Deputy's point. There is a risk that too many of us believe we are through this, and maybe we believe we do not need to be as careful and we can have more social interactions and me…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. I will run through them quickly to try and get to all four. I take Deputy Flaherty's point on wanting to get back to normal life as quickly as possible. We all want it. We are all desperate for it for ourselves and our communities, and our business communities are all desperate for it. However, we still have to proceed with care. One of the reasons Ireland is doing so well, our vaccine programme is going so well, we have one of the lowest virus levels in Europe and we have …

I thank the Deputy for her questions. With regards to the vaccination centre for Drogheda, I will take that back to the HSE later today. Deputy O'Dowd has asked the same question. The short answer on the other questions is there are not precise numbers that public health follows. There is no single measure or metric in terms of the level of cases, the level of transmission or the percentage of people vaccinated that leads to certain measures being relaxed. Essentially, what happens is NPHET looks at all of the data…

I thank Deputy Berry for his questions and can assure him that Professor MacCraith is working beyond what would normally be considered full-time. If full-time is 40 hours per week, although I know it is a lot longer for a lot of people, then Professor MacCraith is working well beyond that. I speak to him almost daily, including early in the morning and late at night and I commend him and the rest of the task force on the work they are doing. I do not believe the National Emergency Co-Ordination Centre is the right …

I thank the Deputy for his questions. The over-85 cohort has been substantially completed but there is no doubt that across our country there will be people in that age group who are still waiting. Deputy Higgins, for example, said earlier that there is a GP in her constituency who is refusing to vaccinate his patients who are over 70 and that alternative arrangements need to be put in place. Similarly, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has given a lot of detail in this session about housebound people, the majo…

I thank the Deputies for their questions and kind words for everyone working in the vaccination programme. As I know all Deputies will fully appreciate, the people running the programme right across the country, in so many different areas, are working flat out. I engage with them at weekends, at 7 o'clock in the morning and at 11 o'clock at night. They are working non-stop. It is a great privilege to be part of that. I would like to share with the House that it is fantastic to see such a national effort. The HSE, t…

I am aware of the situation. The current public health advice to me is that the exemption should apply to EMA-approved vaccines. I believe that list will grow. Sinopharm is one of the 12 which is not within the four that have been recognised by the EMA, but it is a reasonable question. The question being posed by Irish people who are in the Emirates right now is reasonable and I will seek a view from public health on it.

I thank the Deputy. The question has been put to me directly in the last week and a half. I do not want to stray into giving medical advice, which I am not qualified to give. I put the same question to public health and the Department and the answer I got was that the issue has been looked into in great detail, and the advice from NIAC is that there is no additional risk. However, I am conscious that I am not an expert or a clinician, so I would like to revert to the Deputy and, indeed, to other Deputies with a pre…

Deputy McGrath has come in here week after week and made contributions like he has just made. He has just said several things which are verifiably false, and importantly so. He has stated some quite outrageous things, such as the Taoiseach-----

The Deputy has just stated some really dangerous things, such as saying that healthcare workers are being forced to take vaccines. The problem is that this is a questions and answers session. Every week, the Deputy comes in here and, every week, just like this, he has said many things, many of them false and several of them dangerous.

Deputy McGrath has never once, just as with this week, left time for me to answer or address anything he has said. The protocol in this session is not that Deputy McGrath stands up and makes a list of false claims then gets responses in writing from me. It is a questions and answers session. If the Deputy wants answers, I am here, but he has to leave time for me to correct many of the dangerous and false things that he continues to say every week.

Are we referring to the call centre for GPs or the HSE Live call centre?

The Deputy most definitely should have got those details if I committed to doing that. The only question I am trying to clarify concerns the fact that there are two call centres. There is one for GPs and one for the public.

I apologise, I am genuinely trying to be helpful. I will need more details on the specific case. If the Deputy has not been getting the detail in writing from me through parliamentary questions or, indeed, through our debate here, she should be. It is something I will take back with me today.

I will be guided by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Am I to wrap up on the item?

Or was that Deputy Carey's time? I am happy to do whatever the Leas-Cheann Comhairle thinks best.

I see. Thank you.

I thank Deputies across the House for their contributions. It is most valuable to hear them. Certainly, one of the things that the Minister for State and I will take away is the need to have an immediate conversation with the HSE and the Department in respect of doing everything possible to get to the housebound. The National Ambulance Service is doing Trojan work, but we will engage, particularly after today's session, to see what more can be done. It is very clear, as we know from our own representations also, th…