Like the Tánaiste and I am sure many other Deputies, I have experienced an escalation in my office over the last couple of weeks of people seeking clarity on when they will get their booster vaccines. A 68-year-old gentleman was on the telephone to me this morning. He is going through chemotherapy and he was seeking clarity on when he will get his booster. His consultant oncologist could not tell him, nor could his GP or the HSE vaccine line. He is not seeking to skip any queues; nobody was. He is just seeking clarity. It is fair that one of those three, if not all three, should have clarity as to when this individual, as well as many others, will receive their vaccines. I am interested in hearing the Tánaiste's thoughts on how that system is working.

I am afraid I cannot answer the Deputy's question on an individual basis, but I hope that gentleman gets his third dose of the vaccine as soon as possible. As of today, about 700,000 people have received their third dose of the Covid vaccine. We are now able to provide the third dose to between 160,000 and 200,000 people a week. Even at the peak of the vaccine programme, it was not possible to vaccinate everyone in one or two weeks. We can run at a capacity of approximately 250,000 a week. Over 1 million people should have received their third dose by early December, working through into the rest of December, January and February, but it will take time. I expect every adult will be offered a third dose and that is 4 million people. In the next couple of days, we also expect the European Medicines Agency, EMA, and the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, to approve vaccines for those aged five to 11.

I want to ask the Tánaiste about the shared equity scheme. On previous occasions when Governments have ignored expert advice from the Central Bank or the ESRI, especially on housing, it has not ended well. Why, on this occasion, does the Government feel it is okay to ignore the warnings from the ESRI and the Central Bank that this will inflate house prices? House prices have increased by 12% in the last year. A similar scheme in the UK led to a boom in house prices and a boom in profits for developers. Why, on this occasion, is the Government ignoring all this advice?

I have not yet seen the Central Bank report. I believe it was only published in the last hour or so and therefore I am loath to comment on it. We support the shared equity scheme, as one element of our housing policy, because it will help people who are currently renting to become homeowners for the first time. In most cases the mortgages they will pay will be less than the rent they are currently paying. Anything that enables people who are trapped paying very high rents to become homeowners for the first time, often paying a mortgage that is less than the rent they are paying, is a positive development in my view. The main thing we can do to reduce the cost of housing is to increase the supply. We need more supply and I appeal to the Social Democrats to stop objecting to new housing in this city and in other parts of Ireland.