Mattie McGrath criticises vaccine rollout and carers' delays
Mattie McGrath spoke in the Dáil about alleged failures in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, raising discrepancies in flu vaccine counts and calling the public health agencies "not fit for purpose." He pressed the minister for written answers and urgent clarification on when carers and home health staff will receive vaccines.
Main criticisms
Mattie McGrath criticised the department and agency responsible for vaccine supply, saying they were unfit and had failed to account properly for flu vaccine numbers. He said he had previously asked about 2 million flu vaccines being supplied while only 1.4 million could be accounted for and demanded a written reply from the minister.
Concerns for carers and a private case
He raised urgent concerns for front-line carers, home health staff and a private case referred to as Valerie, saying carers are waiting and fearful. McGrath argued that carers and those they support should receive priority access to vaccines and warned against wasting leftover doses if people are available to receive them.
Vaccine supply figures and comparisons
McGrath contrasted large vaccine totals elsewhere with the domestic supply, citing a figure of 230,766 compared with 12.8 million in the United Kingdom. He suggested the lack of supply was causing lists to move backwards and blamed wider arrangements, including the EU, for failing to look after the country's needs.
Demands for accountability and follow-up
He urged the minister to provide written information, to consider direct contact with vaccine suppliers and to explain when front-line carers and specific vulnerable individuals will be vaccinated. McGrath reiterated his view that the rollout has been slow and that the agencies involved are not fit for purpose, naming the Taoiseach as responsible for appointments.
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Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning. Minister, I asked you here several months ago, I asked you about the word out of the vaccine for the flu vaccine and I put it to you that 2 million were supplied and you could only count for 1.4 million. I want you to come back to me with an answer in writing, whether that's right or wrong. So however we want to be prepared to do this and I said that at the time, this number of vaccines, how could we do it when we have, when the agency and the department were totally unfit and I have not accounted with anybody, not even to you. Minister, I want to know when are the cares, when are the home healths and when are the gallery corner going to get the vaccines. They're front line, hugely front line, it couldn't be more front line and I don't have a big issue if there's vaccines left over in a roll out that 5 or 6 of them are giving to some people. They're better than wasting them. Surely it's better than wasting them if people can be got to give them to them because they shouldn't be wasted and I also want to ask you Minister, a private situation, Valerie, a middle-aged woman now who as a young girl had a serious accident, got an award and an exceptional care team is put in place by her father and mother and indeed her care team, the support team come in and they're quite close to where Deputy Butler lives and County and Kelly Consure but they go home, the carers for them and herself, Valerie, are waiting and because there's a private situation, she's implying those people, somebody's doing it on her behalf and they're frightened and worried. And then they've RT, RT, RT, RT, the bad news channel. Charlie Budd found, not Charlie Budd, the former TD found his vocation at long last, frightened the life of everyone. He was here for a while in the parliament. So the fear factors you've instilled and you have an unfit roll out situation then, that private situation, they need the vaccine as much as anyone. The carers need it and they can get any idea when they're going to get it or when they're going to, you know, like there's a list all right, she said, but that list is going backwards because of the lack of supply. I could name all the countries here, have a great United Kingdom of 12.8 million vaccines. What are we at? 230,766? Maybe we should have left the EU as well and we'll have got the vaccines. Because the EU aren't looking after us, they never looked after us and your inability to get them, and you're asked by Deputy Mike Shirley Munay here to contact the CEO of the company, could we get them ourselves? Because it's frightfully slow and it's a damn fine mesh, as I said it would be, because they couldn't look after the flu vaccine, 2 million, how are they going to roll this out? They're not fit for purpose, they're here to see, haven't been for decades, and they were appointed by your great leader, the Taoiseach, I said hope they're here to see, so they're not fit for purpose, full stop. Thank you Deputy, we're out of time.
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