TRIPS waiver and CTAP support
Deputy Collins asked about Ireland’s position on the WTO TRIPS waiver and whether the Government would support the WHO CTAP initiative. The Taoiseach said licensing, technology transfer and building production capacity were the best route, and emphasized the EU’s role in supporting vaccine production.
In response to a question from Deputy Gannon last week about the proposal for a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, Covid waiver at the WTO, the Tánaiste told the House that a TRIPS waiver was not enough to do what was needed to be done and that the best thing we could do was to work together with industry to license this intellectual property to the global south and help to build the necessary factories and provide the money and know-how to do these things. There is a WHO initiative, the coronavirus treatment acceleration programme, CTAP, which tries to do exactly what the Tánaiste claims is needed. It was introduced in May 2020, but the Government and most of the pharmaceutical industry have still not endorsed it. Will the Government finally say that it will support a waiver and the CTAP? There is an urgency to get people in this country vaccinated, but there does not seem to be the same urgency about getting the rest of the world vaccinated, and that needs to happen for us to be protected.
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First, the most effective way to get the world vaccinated is through licensing of technology and building up capacity and know-how in the production of vaccines. The European Union has pledged €1 billion to developing production facilities and know-how in Africa so that Africa can begin producing its own medicines. That, to me, is a very sensible and pragmatic way of trying to give capacity to countries that cannot, as we speak, develop medicines or, indeed, vaccines.
Ireland is one of the countries in the world that has a very advanced state of knowledge and know-how in respect of medicine production, research and vaccines. I am delighted that the mRNA drug substance is now being developed at Grange Castle in the Pfizer facility there.
The pharmaceutical companies, as a result of this discussion, have pledged very significant amounts to developing countries and to poorer countries. That is extremely important. I think that Europe-----
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Will the Government support the CTAP?
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-----is playing a very noble role in this and the European Union has been a way ahead of any other large bloc-----
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Why are we not supporting the CTAP?