A MOTION CALLING on the Government to support a patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccines was passed in the Seanad last night.

The motion, which seeks the Government to support a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver on Covid-19 vaccine technology, was passed without objection.

The Government had originally planned to introduce a counter-motion but withdrew it after Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne and Green Party Senator Róisín Garvey said that they would not support it.

The TRIPS waiver motion was introduced by Independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins, and was seconded by Independent Senator Lynn Ruane.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, Higgins said that a TRIPS waiver would be a “crucial step” in getting ahead of the virus to slow down the pandemic.

“It’s [TRIPS waiver] recognised as a crucial step if we’re going to be manufacturing vaccines at the scale we need to to get ahead of the virus, to slow the pandemic and crucially to save lives,” said Higgins.

“It’s a choice because it is an artificial scarcity created by the fact that we’re not allowing countries to produce their own generic versions of medicines.

“Charity isn’t enough. We really need justice and we need to scale up the delivery of vaccines in any way we can as part of a global solidarity initiative, and also just from a practical common sense perspective.”

There are currently over 100 countries supporting the TRIPS waiver on Covid-19 vaccines, including the United States. It was planned to be discussed during a World Trade Organisation meeting, but was cancelled last minute due to the Omicron variant.

Higgins said that she wants to see the Government push a TRIPS waiver more urgently in Europe, with the Taoiseach currently attending an EU leaders summit currently taking place in Brussels today.

“I think we need to have a signal of hope and a signal of leadership from the Taoiseach and then from the European Union,” said Higgins, mentioning how the European Parliament have also passed a motion for a TRIPS waiver.