Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 June 2023
376. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he has received submissions raising concerns that future plans of the WHO in coordinating responses to pandemics might overreach the need for local national and community responses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27039/23]
View answerThe COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that the global status quo in terms of pandemic preparedness and response is not adequate and needs revision and as such, Ireland strongly supports a multilateral approach to global health issues with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a central leadership role.
On 1 December 2021, the members of the World Health Organisation reached consensus to begin the process to negotiate a convention, agreement, or other international instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Ireland supports the WHO-led process to negotiate a binding legal instrument on pandemic preparedness and response. The aim of such a Pandemic Agreement is to protect public health and to help save lives in the event of future pandemics.
An Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) was established and met for the first time on 24 February 2022. The INB has met five times to date and is due to meet again in July to progress work on drafting the agreement. A progress report was delivered to the 76th World Health Assembly in May, with the aim of adopting the instrument by 2024.
The EU is also a leading proponent of this process and Ireland, along with a majority of EU Member States, is part of the Group of Friends of the Treaty. It should be noted that public health is a shared competence between EU members states and the EU itself. Officials in my Department, working with Ireland's Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva, are engaging and will continue to engage with other Government Departments, the EU negotiator, and the INB bureau in this process.
The Group of Friends of the Treaty strongly supports an agreement that would foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional, and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.
As part of the negotiating process, and to encourage transparency and engagement, the INB has held a number of its meetings in public; Ireland strongly supports this action and welcomes the participation of civil society organisations in this process.
