If the Deputy is not receiving them, I will ensure that it is rectified. With regard to getting them online, they are being changed twice a week at present and we are moving quickly. I want to get the daily updates done and up as quickly as possible both on the data hub and on the app. I wish to make a point on the overpromising. I was asked for indicative timelines. In fairness, if one looks at the record of the debate in the House last week, there were heavy caveats with all the numbers. It was, and remains, a ge…

-----but I hope that it would not be mis-characterised as making promises. They are not promises but a genuine attempt to try to give people a sense of the type of timing we would like to see.

Yes.

I thank the Deputy for his contribution and questions. I agree wholeheartedly with him that we need to get the information to people. There is a real hunger for it, particularly with regard to people over 70 years old. They are asking how it is going to happen and when they will be contacted. That information will be out shortly and much of it will come from GPs to their patients. There will be information shortly on that. The most important thing to say is that people will know ahead of time when and how they are …

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. With regard to his first question on Irish citizens abroad in service to the State, I will ask for an update on that and will make sure it is brought to him. On the engagement of the State with the EU at various levels, that is absolutely happening. We are part of the process whereby the Commission is engaging with AstraZeneca and there are contacts at an official level. As well as that, we are not just engaging with but are part of the European Medicines Agency. Very seriou…

I would have to go back and check exactly what interview or statement the Deputy is talking about. As he has characterised that comment right now, it does not sound right to me but I am more than happy to look at what was said on the record and engage with him on it.

I thank the Deputy for his questions. We are in agreement on the strategy relating to the new variants. For example, South Africa and Brazil have the identified variant. Last night, the visa programme for those countries was suspended. In the context of new variants emerging globally, I agree that we need a robust system of protection in place which will keep those variants out of Ireland. I am out of time. I am happy to study the Deputy's proposal. For what it is worth, my own view is that Ireland and the more dev…

I thank the Deputy for his questions. With regard to Janssen-Johnson & Johnson, I will ask the Department for the most up-to-date note on it. I have heard various different accounts over the past few days on timing. I can confirm that not only are we and the EU aware of it, but that the Janssen-Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one of the vaccines we have advance purchased in anticipation of the company applying for and securing market authorisation. We have advance purchased 2.2 million doses of that particular potenti…

That is a very important question, similar to many of the other questions, in terms of prioritisation. The prioritisation we are using was proposed by the expert group and NIAC, considered and endorsed by NPHET and then agreed by Cabinet. That is what we are using. Of course, it has to be a live document and we have to be open to updating it as we learn more. That goes without saying. I am not an expert on viruses but one of the points made to me in terms of the type of situation the Deputy is talking about is that…

I thank the Deputy for another excellent question. Rapid testing, or antigen testing, is now being deployed across the healthcare settings at a significant volume as of this week. I have set up an independent expert group to report back to me very quickly on exactly the question the Deputy asked: can we deploy antigen testing in non-healthcare settings such as schools, nursing homes, workplaces, here in the Oireachtas or wherever it may be? I am looking forward to getting a view on that. The short version - I will …

I thank the Deputy for his questions. As with other Members and people across the country, he is rightly raising issues for those who are more vulnerable, including people with CF, people with underlying conditions such as Down's syndrome and their carers. If the Deputy looks through the prioritisation, he will see that one of the groups we are coming to as quickly as possible is people with certain underlying medical conditions. With regard to their carers, the position at the moment is that if the carers are in p…

May I clarify that I am right in thinking the Deputy is talking about home helps or carers who are working in the formal sector in west Cork? Is that correct?

The answer to the Deputy's very reasonable question, then, is that the hospital group that covers the area is at the moment putting together a detailed plan to answer exactly that. I will make sure that as soon as it has that ready it sends that information on to the Deputy.

I am sharing time. I will take the first ten minutes approximately. It is now a year since the World Health Organization declared the prevalence of Covid-19 to be a public emergency of international concern. Since that day, we have found ourselves living lives very different from those we may have expected or hoped for previously. Case numbers, people hospitalised and, most regrettable of all, the number of people who have lost lives to this illness have become the backdrops to our lives. In the space of less than …

I thought I was sharing with Deputy Devlin. Is he not here?

I will leave it at that.

I thank the Deputy. I am personally aware of three hospitals that I have had queries about: the Coombe Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital and a situation in County Kerry. On the Coombe, I spoke to the chair of the board last night who told me they are conducting a review. I believe they are hiring senior counsel. They want to establish all the facts. They have found out more since the initial statements were made. On the others, I have asked the HSE to look right across the system at any of these allegations and report…

I will provide for everyone whatever schedule I can at the end of this session. Broadly, we have had so far slightly more than 40,000 per week from Pfizer and low numbers to begin with from Moderna. The schedule I have seen shows they are coming in every two weeks. The good-----

The initial shipment from Moderna was 4,000 or 6,000. I will get the Deputy a note on it. That ramps up. That good news is on Pfizer. The Deputy will be aware that the allocation was based on getting five doses from the vial. They arrive in trays and there is a certain number of vials per tray. It turns out that if it is done right with the right type of syringes and the vaccinators are sufficiently trained, six and sometimes seven doses can be got out. That means that, along with the 40,000 doses that were schedul…

The advance purchase with AstraZeneca is for 3.3 million doses. I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy that it is a game changer. Because of the temperatures, we can get it straight out to GPs, pharmacies and potentially others. The first quarter volume is approximately 600,000 doses. It is a two-dose regime, so that will be about 300,000 people. At present, the advance purchase agreement, APA, is for a monthly delivery. We are getting vaccine once a week from Pfizer and once a fortnight from Moderna at the moment,…