4 April 2020
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Deputy O’Laoighaire
Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire has said that Ireland must fully utilise its domestic pharmaceutical industry in the fight against the Coronavirus emergency.
Mr Ó Laoghaire added that Cork, Ringaskiddy in particular, is recognised internationally as a pharma hub and that the resources of the sector in Ireland must be directed at meeting the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Cork South Central;
“Ireland, and Cork in particular, has significant pharmaceutical infrastructure, capacity, resources and expertise all of which must be directed fully and strategically in the interests of public health. We need to press home this advantage in the fight against COVID-19.
“Recently, it has become clear that delays in testing have occurred due to a shortage of reagent used in the process. This has meant that people are left waiting a long time for results and that a lower number of people are being tested each day than what was planned.
“There is a global shortage of the extraction material used in the testing process and therefore we have to look at domestic production.
“Sinn Féin has asked the government to engage quickly with Pharmaceutical companies based here about the production of test kits for use in Ireland.
“It is apparent that there is a supply issue, and while we can and should do what we can to tackle this in terms of importation, we need to produce domestically if we can.
“The Government should seek a quick audit of manufacturing capabilities of our Pharmaceutical Companies, and ask them what they are capable of, and I believe many of them will step forward to act and show leadership to support this national effort.”