Brendan Smith urges priority vaccinations for kidney patients
Brendan Smith addressed the vaccination programme and travel restrictions, welcoming ministers' commitment to a fair rollout and urging urgent reassessment for kidney patients. He noted Minister Donnelly's confirmation that 85% of the public want the vaccine and described the campaign as the largest ever vaccination programme in the history of our country.
Support for vaccination programme
He welcomed comments from Minister Donnelly and Minister Butler on the vaccination programme and praised the stated aim that those most in need will be prioritised. He also welcomed additional partnerships with GPs, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to ensure the programme is rolled out as rapidly as possible.
Call for kidney patient priority
He relayed strong requests from kidney patients for reassessment of their place in the prioritisation schedule. He said they cite domestic and international expert medical opinion making a strong case on both medical and ethical grounds for the need for all kidney patients to be vaccinated earlier than currently planned, and he urged the minister to give that request detailed and urgent consideration.
Local delivery and GP involvement
He welcomed arrangements for GPs at local level to share facilities where necessary so vaccination can be administered as locally as possible. He highlighted the role of general practitioners, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in supporting rollout and access.
Travel restrictions and penalties
He reiterated his calls for strict implementation of travel restrictions for residents and visitors, welcomed the new restrictions introduced earlier in the week, and supported the Government's commitment to impose harsher penalties on people who travel abroad and return on non-essential trips.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I welcome the comments of Minister Donnelly and Minister Butler earlier on in regard to the vaccination programme. Both have consistently indicated that they want the programme to be rolled out fairly and those most in need will be prioritised. That has to be the basis for rolling out the largest ever vaccination programme in the history of our country. And I welcome Minister Donnelly's confirmation that 85% of the public have indicated that they want to have the vaccine made available. This vaccination programme already involves additional partnerships with GPs, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. And I welcome their determination and their interest in ensuring that the programme is rolled out as rapidly as possible. I'm also glad that GPs at local level will share facilities where necessary to ensure the vaccination programme is administered as locally as possible. Minister, Minister, I had the opportunity to discuss with you earlier today, the very strong requests made from kidney patients, and they have outlined to all of us very, very clearly, the need to reassess the programme in relation to when they will get their vaccine. And they quote very strongly that domestic and international expert medical opinion makes a strong case on both medical and ethical grounds for the need for all kidney patients to be vaccinated earlier than currently planned. And I sincerely hope that you can give that particular request detailed and urgent consideration. Just on a separate issue, Minister Donnelly will recall that I raised on numerous occasions here the need to ensure the strict implementation of restrictions on travel on people within this state and people visiting this state. And I very much welcome the new restrictions that came into place earlier this week. I genuinely believe that people visiting this state should be subject to the same travel restrictions as people ordinarily resident in this state, and it's a welcome move. And again, I welcome the Government's commitment to impose harsher penalties on people travelling outside our state and coming back here on non-essential travel. Thank you, I can call it.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
