Last week, we had the very welcome news of an agreement on the Irish protocol. While we still need to see the detail and how it will be implemented in practice, such progress is important for everyone on the island. From speaking to people in Brussels this morning, it appears that there has been movement over the past 24 hours, at least in principle, on the level playing field and governance, providing some level of optimism that a deal might still be possible. However, given the shortness of time, if there is not an agreement by the end of the week, it is unlikely that the ratification process will happen this year. Could the Taoiseach give us an update on progress in the talks? Does he have a view on the possible extension of the transition period or the provisional application of the treaty until ratification can take place in January?

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising the issue. I agree that the news last week of a conclusion to the negotiations on the protocol and the withdrawal agreement was very good news. Both sides deserve commendation in terms of the constructive way that they engaged. The indications were good prior to signing off on that agreement which was important in terms of the experience on the post-Brexit island of Ireland. The fact that both sides are still in negotiations is a good sign. It gives me greater hope than I had last week that a resolution can potentially be found to the very difficult and challenging issue of a level playing field and fisheries and a dispute resolution mechanism to deal with that. It is important that both sides get it right and that they concentrate on getting a deal. If they can get a deal over the line, subsequent to that, it is a matter for the member states and others then to work out how we deal with that procedurally.

Thanks to the pressure of the German Minister for health, the European Commission has brought forward the approval process for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to 21 December. We all hope it will be approved and we are aware that it will then take a day or two for the market authorisation. Does the Taoiseach agree with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, that there is a strong possibility that we will be in a position in this country to vaccinate some citizens on the priority list before the end of this year?

Yes, we may very well be. It depends on what happens on 21 December. The European Council discussed the matter last week. We made it very clear that there would be no pressure on the European Medicines Agency in making its decision, although we were conscious that the FDA's decision on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was coming sooner. Then there are the logistics of transporting the vaccine. There is every possibility now that it may indeed be the case that some people may get vaccinated before the end of the year.

I think all of us across the Chamber can agree that a monumental effort by all staff - teachers, SNAs and others throughout the school community - has gone into keeping schools open throughout the pandemic. I note that today, UNICEF has called for teachers, and I imagine also SNAs, to be prioritised in the roll-out of the vaccine.

In terms of the provisional order in which people will be vaccinated that has just been released, key workers in essential jobs who cannot avoid a high risk of exposure are No. 10 and people working in education are No. 11. How do we differentiate between essential workers and teachers? If possible, could we consider teachers and SNAs as front-line staff in terms of prioritisation for vaccination so that we can continue to keep schools open?

The strategy and sequencing of who gets the vaccine first is a live document. Some of it will depend on the availability, manufacturing and volumes of vaccines that will come into the country at particular stages. As I said yesterday morning, January and February will see limited supplies, relatively speaking, although I hope we should have enough to get all our nursing home residents and staff vaccinated.

I said last week that the national immunisation advisory committee was involved in this decision and it is a body with long-standing experience in immunisation matters with the HSE and the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET. As far as possible, we should allow the public health specialists to determine the sequencing. It is based really on the vaccine being particularly effective in preventing ill health from the virus and reducing symptoms. That seems to be its stronger quality. Again, the experts would take questions from the Deputy and others on this.