On 11 March, the National Ambulance Service began the vaccination of housebound patients, initially across the Dublin area. A week later, 300 of the estimated 1,500 housebound people in the country had been vaccinated. There has, however, been a vacuum of information since then. I cannot find out when housebound people across the west of Ireland will be vaccinated. HSE management in the region cannot tell me nor can these people's own GPs. Will the Taoiseach intervene and direct the HSE to provide these very vulnerable people with some idea of when they are going to be vaccinated? Even an indication as to when the National Ambulance Service is going to be vaccinating people in a given county or region would be welcome. This is causing a lot of concern at the moment.

In the context of Covid-19, I pay tribute to the National Ambulance Service which has been extremely effective and has worked very hard in testing, in innovating and now in administering vaccines. As a national service, it has really stood up to the test of Covid-19. I thank everyone who works for the service for what they have done for the nation. In the context of those aged over 85, despite all of the noise, criticisms and so on, 99% of those older than 85 were vaccinated within the three-week target period. That also needs to be said. I will intervene with the HSE and ask that it come back to the Deputy in respect of those older than 85 who are housebound. In fact, those older than 80 should now be included because we are moving into that age cohort. I will ask the HSE to try to get figures for the Deputy.