The Taoiseach has expressed frustration at the failure of AstraZeneca to meet delivery schedules for vaccinations against Covid-19, at a meeting with the company.
Micheál Martin held what was described as "lengthy, positive" virtual discussions with the CEO of the pharmaceutical firm, Pascal Soriot, tonight.
A number of senior managers of the company, as well as the CEO of the IDA, Martin Shanahan, were also in attendance.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said he made clear Ireland's disappointment and frustrations at the failure to meet earlier delivery schedules.
He also sought clear commitments that the vaccines promised for the end of this month into April would be met. AstraZeneca gave some positive commitments in response to this, the spokesperson said.
The company explained the challenges it had faced with manufacturing, particularly in sites supplying the EU.
The Taoiseach offered any assistance Ireland could provide in helping with the supply chain.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News earlier, Mr Martin said he is concerned that the number of new cases of Covid-19 remains high.
He said case numbers will determine the Government's announcement in relation to what restrictions could be eased on 5 April, which are currently understood to include construction and the 5km limit.
"We are all agreed now that we must proceed cautiously. There's no point in opening up and having to close again. We want to do this in a sensible way. That does mean people have to stay with us on this," he said.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin says he will be meeting the CEO of AstraZeneca later this evening to discuss the supply of Covid-19 vaccines. | Read more: https://t.co/RXiciXIi4k pic.twitter.com/7sCsWmC13y
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 12, 2021
His interview came after the Department of Health said it has been notified of ten further deaths associated with Covid-19 and an additional 646 cases.
The number of people in intensive care remains at 87.
The median age of those who died was 67 and the age range was 41-83 years.
Four deaths occurred in March, one occurred in February, one occurred in January and the other four are under investigation.
The total number of Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland is 4,518.
The number of people in intensive care remains the same at 87.
Mr Martin said there is a significant challenge in relation to AstraZeneca supply around Europe.
He said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is "extremely frustrated" in the company's inability to meet supply, which has "manifested in reduced supplies for Ireland".
He said there will be a total of more than 600,000 doses of the vaccine administered in Ireland by the end of today.
He said Ireland stands ready to help in anyway it can to help improve production of vaccines as part of overall European production.
"This is a worldwide supply issue so all the efforts and focus has to be on how can we increase capacity to produce more vaccines more quickly," Mr Martin said.
He said he was concerned protectionism could take root in terms of vaccine supply.
Mr Martin said vaccines will form part of his upcoming conversation with US President Joe Biden.
"There is an ongoing discussion between Europe and the US and it is in that context I will have a discussion with the American President," he said.
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Of the cases notified today, 311 are men and 322 are women. The median age is 30-years-old, with 74% under 45.
Of the new cases, 243 were in Dublin, 80 were in Kildare, 45 were in Meath, 35 were in Galway, 34 were in Offaly and the remaining 209 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
There have been 225,820 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. As of 8am, 344 Covid-19 patients are in hospital. There were 16 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
As of Tuesday, 553,161 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland, with 396,089 people having received their first dose.
A total of 157,072 people have received their second dose.
The 14-day-incidence rate per 100,000 population up to 11 March is 159.3, while the seven-day incidence rate is 77.2. The five-day moving average is 523.
Mr Martin said the Government will be "operationalising" legislation regarding mandatory quarantine at hotels for arrivals into the country within a week.
He said it has taken time to make sure the balance of legal rights has been calibrated correctly.
"We're the first country in the European Union to be doing something of this magnitude," Mr Martin said.
Asked whether contracts had been signed, he said "work was under way".
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Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn said we have made really great progress with our peak daily rate of Covid cases dropping from 6,500 cases in early January to around 10% of that today.
"That progress has saved many lives and we are now among the best in Europe in terms of disease incidence," he said in a video posted on Twitter.
"Unfortunately we remain in a precarious situation we are dealing with what is essentially a new virus that is much more transmissible.
"Our daily incidence rate is twice what it was in early December and there has been a stalling in recent days of the progress we had been making.
"We have seen an increase in referrals from GPs this week and an increase in mobility. On top of that, while the number of people in hospital has reduced, the number of people in critical care is still double what it was in November."
An update on #COVID19 in Ireland from Deputy Chief Medical Officer @ronan_glynn pic.twitter.com/aV502E4Wuv
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) March 12, 2021
Dr Glynn said he knows a lot of people are desperate of a return to normality but "we are not there yet" when it comes to easing restrictions.
He said between now and June a substantial portion of the population will be protected through vaccination but we "must prevent Covid getting the upper hand in the intervening period".
Professor Philip Nolan from the National Public Emergency Health Team said on Twitter: "We have had bumps on the road before, in July and November 2020.
"On 11 November, we had 369 cases a day, with incidence falling 7% per day - four days later we were at 416 cases per day, but we regained control and suppressed further to 250 cases per day by 29 November.
"We can do it again. It will be harder, because of the dominance and increased transmissibility of the B.1.1.7 variant...but we can do it."
Meanwhile, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee has said there is no change to advice around the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in light of reports of clotting issues in a small number of people who had received the jab.
In Northern Ireland, 100 British military medics have been deployed to help accelerate its vaccination programme.
One further coronavirus death was recorded in Northern Ireland today, taking the official Department of Health toll to 2,097. There are 208 new cases from tests on 1,785 individuals.
