Independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins introduced a motion in the Seanad calling on the Government to support a TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver on Covid-19 vaccine technology and on the Government to publicly call on the European Commission to do the same.
The motion was seconded by Senator Lynn Ruane and co-sponsored by Senators Frances Black, Paul Gavan, Lynn Boylan, Fintan Warfield, Niall Ó Donnghaile, Rebecca Moynihan, Marie Sherlock, Annie Hoey, Mark Wall and Victor Boyhan.
The Government was set to introduce a counter-motion, in the name of Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty. However two coalition Senators - Fianna Fáil's Malcolm Byrne and the Green Party's Róisín Garvey - said they would not support