Today is a good day for many businesses and people going back to work as we re-enter level 3 of the plan for living with Covid-19. I am glad our party suggested some time ago that we endeavour to have an opening up for the Christmas period. In fairness, the Government has followed that, so today is a good day. However, the critical discussion around kitchen tables at Christmas will be about vaccines. I wish to ask the Taoiseach some questions about this. In America, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, approval for the Pfizer-approved vaccine is due on 10 December. I presume European approval will happen in a similar timeframe. We have a number of other vaccines coming on stream, with various press statements saying they have certain success rates, etc. They all need to be validated, but this is very positive and let us talk about it in a positive way because I feel there has been some negativity towards this in the past few days which has not been helpful. We need to plan for this in a fairly detailed manner. We need a comprehensive roll-out strategy that will deal with all the vaccines that will be available to us. We need to know which vaccines we are purchasing through the European model and we need to know distinctly the plan for the roll-out. I appreciate that Brian MacCraith is being brought in to co-ordinate the new team that will look after this but I feel we need to go broader than that. I am concerned.

This is not something the Taoiseach or the Government can get wrong in any way, shape or form. I believe we need outside expertise. If we take on board what happened in relation to the roll-out of the flu vaccine, a repeat of that situation would leave a lot to be desired. Last year, the Labour Party made suggestions very early about purchasing flu vaccines but we were ignored. We need outside expertise. We need logistics expertise. Clearly, we need a Minister who will be accountable to this House and who will be responsible for vaccine roll-out.

I am asking the Taoiseach clearly whether he will consider putting one Minister in charge of the most important thing in our country for the next 12 months. I appreciate that the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, will be very busy with other things, but we need one person who will be at Cabinet. Obviously, the Taoiseach can decide who he feels is best for that role, but we need one person who will be responsible for the roll-out of the vaccines which are going to change the lives of everyone in this country. That person should be responsible for procurement, logistics, roll-out and everything else. Will the Taoiseach please consider that? Given the change in tone in some quarters, the absolutely ludicrous commentary on social media from certain anti-vax quarters and certain polls regarding how supporters of various political parties will or will not support vaccine roll-out, I think we really need somebody who is actually going to be the person responsible for the most important thing in this country over the next 12 months. Will the Taoiseach please consider that?

I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government is absolutely and wholly committed to the timely implementation of a Covid-19 immunisation programme once the vaccines are approved for use, particularly the vaccines that are in the European Union portfolio. In this regard, I have established a cross-Government high-level task force to oversee the development and implementation of a programme for the roll-out of vaccines. As the Deputy is aware, that is being chaired by Brian MacCraith of Dublin City University.

We are involved in a European Union procurement exercise. In fact, it is the first manifestation I have seen for a long time in the public health arena of a really good, co-ordinated and European Commission-led approach to the procurement of vaccines which gives all the smaller states a good opportunity. We have opted in to six advance purchase agreements with Moderna, Janssen, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sanofi Pasteur, CureVac and AstraZeneca, which was involved in the Oxford trial. The EU is still in advanced negotiations with Novavax, another pharmaceutical company, and is also looking at other possible additions to the EU vaccines portfolio.

The European Commission is seeking to develop a portfolio of vaccines with various vaccine developers. This serves to spread the risks relating to the development and procurement of Covid-19 vaccines from vaccine developers and member states respectively. It facilitates through collective purchasing power access for all member states to safe and efficacious vaccines that they would not otherwise be in a position to procure if they were operating in an individual capacity. It is a very significant advance for Europe to be able to behave in this way. Europe is also contributing to COVAX in terms of making sure that developing countries and others in less fortunate positions around the world can also gain access to the vaccines. Ireland will receive vaccine doses, subject to market approval being granted by the regulatory authorities, on a population pro rata basis of 1.11% of the total European Union delivery.

The task force has met twice so far. Complex logistical challenges have been identified, including storage and transport requirements, and it is clear that the roll-out of a vaccine will require very careful and detailed whole-of-Government planning. The high-level task force will work with the Department of Health and the HSE to develop a national Covid-19 vaccination strategy and implementation plan for consideration by the Government and the chairman has undertaken to me that it will be ready by 11 December. We still do not have a vaccine approved but it is moving quickly, as the Deputy stated. I suspect the European Medicines Agency, EMA, which is the European approval authority, will work almost in tandem with the FDA in terms of the respective timelines.

The arrival of vaccines is a moment for doubling down on vigilance and social distancing and continuing to do everything we have to do to prevent the spread of the virus, but it does present a horizon and an opportunity to move on from this era of Covid-19 eventually.

In terms of the issues the Deputy raised, communications will be key to the roll-out of the vaccine. Historically, vaccines have eliminated some of the most devastating viruses that have killed many people. In that context, the Government, working with the authorities, will be promoting strongly the take-up of the Covid-19 vaccine.

I attended the European conference on vaccinations last year. I am a 100% advocate, in every way shape and form. However, the words "task force" fill me with concern. This is nothing to do with politics. Trust me when I say that we all have to get this right. I accept what the Taoiseach is saying about EU procurement. I accept what he is saying regarding the number of vaccines. We probably will have up to ten options, from what I am hearing. That is all very positive.

However, there are a number of issues to consider. The first issue is to do with the logistics. Second, who gets the vaccine and in what order, whether they be the vulnerable, healthcare workers and so on? We need to find out about that. The third issue is one that is not being discussed. What are we talking about in terms of IT? How are we going to generate passports for people? Fourth, will people who get the vaccine be distinguished from those who do not? What will the former be allowed to do? Will those who do not get vaccinated be allowed to go into certain public events? In other words, what will the rules be? Fifth, I honestly believe that we need one person who will report to the Taoiseach and be accountable for all of this. The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has enough to be doing. Other Ministers have enough to be doing.

The Deputy's point is made.

I urge the Taoiseach to consider appointing one person, even if it is somebody brought up just to take on this role and be responsible.

We are way over time.

This issue is far too important to do otherwise.

I thank the Deputy and I appreciate the point he is making. I established the task force for a reason, namely, to bring a varied range of disciplines, both public sector and private sector, to the table to deal with the various work streams that will be required to deliver the vaccine. There is a work stream currently operating in regard to information technology, for example, because IT will be key to this in terms of recording and so on. There is also the issue of manpower and the administration of the vaccine. Given the volumes involved, we will have to go beyond the existing, traditional way of administering a vaccine. Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, is a member of the task force, as a link into the broader pharmaceutical and multinational industry in terms of its known experience in medicine storage and so on. Derek McCormack, an expert on cold chain logistics, is on the task force. Dalton Philips, chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority, is a member. Paul Reid is there, obviously, because the HSE will still be a key operator and implementer in operationalising a lot of this work. We have some supports as well from the Defence Forces from a logistics perspective. A good team has been put in place in terms of the various work streams that need to be developed.

The Taoiseach's time is up.

The Government, ultimately, has to deliver this.