Ní hamháin go bhfuil fadhbanna ann maidir leis an roll-amach den vacsaín ach tá fadhbanna níos mó ná sin. Thug an tAire Sláinte gealltanas go mbeadh an vacsaín acu siúd atá os cionn 85 bliana d’aois roimh dheireadh na seachtaine seo ach tá a fhios againn anois nach bhfuil sin ag dul a tharlú. Tá dochtúirí ginearálta faoi bhrú mar go n-inseofar do chuid acu go mbeidh an vacsaín ag teacht ar lá faoi leith agus ní tharlaíonn sin. Ansin bíonn ar na dochtúirí teaghlaigh seo na céadta scairteacha gutháin a dhéanamh agus na coinní le seandaoine a chur ar ceal. Níl seo maith go leor.

We are at a crucial point in the suppression of Covid-19 and the roll-out of the vaccine, but the Government is dropping the ball on both fronts and letting people down. Figures released yesterday by the Department of Justice show that international travel is increasing. That is because there is no serious deterrent to travel in place at present and little or no follow-up. That puts all of us at risk, regardless of how strongly people are trying to adhere to the public health advice.

It is also increasingly clear that problems relating to the roll-out of the vaccine go well beyond the issue of slow supply. Last week, the Minister for Health wrote to all Deputies to say that the HSE had confirmed to him that it was on target to administer a dose to all people aged over 85 years by the end of the week. He has since rowed back from that position and the Government is now set to miss that target. General practitioners have contacted us to express their serious concerns about the buddy system. They tell us they have not been provided with a single point of contact to co-ordinate the roll-out. The communication is shambolic, with little notice given as to when the vaccine will be made available to their practices and patients. Other GPs have been telling us that while they were promised vaccines on certain dates, the vaccines did not arrive. That leaves GPs obliged to make hundreds of telephone calls to cancel vaccination appointments for their vulnerable, elderly patients. This is simply unacceptable. It must be resolved, and resolved quickly.

The HSE must examine this urgently. It must reassure the public, who want their loved ones to be vaccinated. What is happening here? What is the situation? There has been a lengthy lead-in time. We all knew that it would be necessary to deliver the logistics for a vaccination programme. The uncertainty in this regard is causing great anxiety.

All the while, another issue I raised with the Tánaiste remains unresolved. It is the urgent need to afford priority vaccination for family carers. Many carers are at their wit's end. I am sure they have spoken to the Tánaiste in the same way they have spoken to us. The question thousands of carers ask is: who steps in to take care of the vulnerable family members who need around-the-clock care, seven days a week, if they get sick? This is especially true for carers with vulnerable children who cannot yet be vaccinated. Their only protection is if the carer is vaccinated. Family carers provide care that is often very specialised, intense and intimate. The case for family carers to be afforded some level of priority is very strong, but the Government has not listened so far.

Perhaps the Tánaiste will not take my word for it, but he should listen to the words of the carers. One lady writes:

I am a family carer. I have cared for my Dad for the last ten years. He has Parkinson's and dementia, and my mother suffers from serious medical conditions. If I get sick, there will be nobody else to care for either of them or to even bring groceries to their house.

Another carer tells us:

My little girl has special needs and I am so fed up of fighting for her basic rights. My biggest worry is if me or my husband get Covid as I fear the impacts for Ella. We would not self-isolate from her as she simply would just think that we have left her. It is an insult being so far down the list with absolutely no back-up plan.

I want the Tánaiste to answer the question that is on the mind of every carer in the country, and that is: who will step in? The Tánaiste told me two weeks ago that he asked the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, to examine this matter, but we have heard nothing since then. It is time for the Tánaiste to afford family carers the respect and recognition they deserve. Will the Government provide the relief family carers so badly need and tell them if they will be afforded priority for vaccination?

Tá brón orm go raibh mé déanach. Tá dul chun cinn maith á dhéanamh i leith dáileadh na vacsaíne. Táthar ag tuar go mbainfear amach an sprioc de 500,000 an tseachtain seo. Beidh an chéad dáileog faighte ag ár gclainne agus ag ár gcairde a bhfuil os cionn 85 bliana d’aois faoi dheireadh na seachtaine seo. Cé go bhfuil bóthar fada amach romhainn go fóill, tá sé le feiceáil go bhfuil toradh dearfach anseo agus go hidirnáisiúnta ó thaobh tionchar na vacsaíní. Tá sé mar sprioc ag an Rialtas go mbeidh an chéad dáileog den vacsaín faighte ag breis agus 80% de dhaoine fásta faoi dheireadh mhí an Mheithimh.

I appreciate that there have been some issues and delays with the vaccine programme. A consignment of 25,000 AstraZeneca vaccines that we had expected to arrive last week did not arrive at short notice. We are told it will arrive before the end of the month, allowing us to catch up. There will be weeks when we fall behind target and there will be weeks when we go ahead of target. I acknowledge that there have been difficulties in getting the vaccine to some general practices. This is a big logistical operation and we need to be patient and supportive with the HSE as it works this out and gets the job done.

There are reasons for optimism and reasons for comfort. By this weekend 500,000 vaccines will have been given in the State. We will be close to completion with nursing home staff and residents, with front-line healthcare workers, and we will be there or thereabouts with the over-85s. This week already we have moved on to people in the 80 to 84 age group, which is very encouraging. This is happening in some parts of the country.

On priority and how people are prioritised, at the moment two groups are being prioritised. The first is the healthcare workers, and we all understand why this should be the case because they are the ones most at risk of getting this virus, and people over the age of 70 and those under the age of 70 with medical conditions because they are the ones most likely to get severely ill and most likely to die from this virus. The groups being prioritised are healthcare workers, who are most at risk of getting sick, people over the age of 70, and those under the age of 70 who have a medical condition who are most at risk of dying or getting very sick as a result of this virus. The national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, advises that these are the groups that should be prioritised. The Government agrees with that prioritisation. While I totally appreciate and value the work done by carers all over the country I do not believe they should be prioritised at the expense of healthcare workers, at the expense of those aged over 70 or at the expense of those under 70 who have a severe medical condition. In fairness, I do not think that Deputy Doherty believes that either. We all accept that healthcare workers must come first, then the elderly and then people with medical conditions as they are most at risk. Once they have all had their first dose, then NIAC will be able to consider other groups, including carers. I do not believe one should play politics with this, which Sinn Féin is doing. If Deputy Doherty was being honest in his position he would at least say who he thinks should be downgraded. Any time one moves any group or profession, anybody in society or any cohort up the list of priority, by definition one has to move somebody down. When the Deputy calls for groups to be prioritised and does not have the honesty to say who he wants to be moved down the list, it means that the Deputy's position is not genuine and that he is playing politics. Carers are too busy and have too much on their hands to be played politics with in the way the Deputy is doing.

That is a very disappointing response from the Tánaiste. I will make the point that the only person playing politics here is the Tánaiste. There is a very genuine argument and rationale for having some priority for family carers. There is no priority for them at all at the moment. They fall into the general population priority of age groups. I know many of these family carers. Some of them are very close to me. Do not tell me that I am playing politics with this when I know the risks associated with this. Some of these carers look after very vulnerable children and if they contract Covid-19, it could have serious consequences for these younger children. Did the Tánaiste ask for the advice with regard to family carers? He said in the Dáil that this advice was being sought and last week he said he had not got it. All we are asking is whether NIAC has given advice on family carers.

With regard to the mess around communication and the infrastructure not being properly in place to roll out the vaccine for the over-85s, the Tánaiste's argument that AstraZeneca did not arrive last week does not wash. AstraZeneca is not being provided to the over-85s.

Time please Deputy.

The problem is that the Tánaiste has been in government for quite a period of time and we do not have the proper infrastructure in the middle of March, where GPs had to cancel hundreds of appointments because the vaccines that should be arriving are not arriving, and others are getting it with very little notice.

The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". The Government has asked NIAC to consider prioritising family carers after the current groups. I strongly believe it is right that we prioritise healthcare workers, those most likely to get sick, people over 70 and people under 70 with medical conditions because they are most likely to die or get very sick from this virus. We have asked NIAC to give consideration to prioritising family carers, once those groups have been vaccinated because they should be prioritised. I am disappointed, once again, that Deputy Doherty will not answer my question. Any time one moves a group of people - several hundred thousand people in this case - up the list, one has to bring somebody down the list. The fact that the Deputy will not say so really shows how hollow and dishonest his position is and how he is trying to court votes and take advantage of family carers in the way he is. I believe this is entirely wrong. Trying to play politics in this way with carers, who have too much to worry about than this type of carry on, is the most cynical form of politics possible.

The reason we did not meet the 100,000 target last week was because of the AstraZeneca not arriving-----

Tánaiste, we are over time.

-----with 25,000 intended for healthcare workers. That will arrive before the end of the month.

I ask for co-operation in using the time appropriately.