Irish MEP Frances Fitzgerald says Ireland should have a Cabinet minister directly responsible for the coronavirus vaccine programme.
She told Newstalk Breakfast that no one person or department should have the responsibility of dealing with the pandemic, while at the same time rolling out a nationwide campaign.
"We need to have a stronger operational grip of what's going on in relation to the vaccine, and I think this is one the ways to do it."
She said this is not a criticism, but a positive suggestion.
"There's at least three departments already involved" she said, while adding that anyone in that position would need help.
"I do believe that whoever is in Government, and whatever party has responsibility for health, that right now the crisis is of such of scale in terms of the demands on any one minister, in terms of the demands on the health side, the emergency response the numbers - and at the same time [it is] absolutely critical that we do all of the initiatives that are needed".
'Clear communication'
She said while Ireland is doing well, we could be doing better.
"We see in the last few days the protocols really aren't tight enough, they're not in place - if you have extra vaccination for example, where do they go?"
"I know the difference it makes when you have a minister with responsibility for a particular issue at Cabinet".
"We can see that we need to be clear in communicating to the public about how exactly it's going to roll-out".
She said people need to be kept informed.
"There is an information deficit at the moment - I think it's too much to expect people who are also dealing with the emergency response and the huge demands of that are able to, at the same time, work on all of the detail that is necessary to have a successful vaccination programme".
She also suggested that this should not be a new ministry or department, but rather an extension of the exiting structure.
"What I've been saying and reflecting on the current situation where you have these enormous demands on the health system for the emergency response to COVID-19, and then you also of course have the recovery side - which is the vaccination side.
"And it seems to me that because of those twin demands, that it makes sense to have the political leadership of another minister, in Cabinet, to support and augment current efforts.
"I'm not suggesting a new department or a new ministry, I'm saying that you need the support and cooperation of another minister working on the logistical side of the vaccination roll-out and I think this would be in everyone's interests."
