A row broke out in the Seanad yesterday amid claims by Senator Sharon Keoghan that the World Health Organisation’s Pandemic Treaty will erode Ireland’s sovereignty.
The claim was made on Tuesday by Senator Keogan, following Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s announcement that Ireland would be signing up to the WHO’s pact.
Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that Ireland will be signing up to the WHO’s proposed “binding legal” global Pandemic Treaty.#gript https://t.co/Prv0081vao
— gript (@griptmedia) April 14, 2022
“This is a legally and politically binding convention that would dictate signatories’ response to future pandemics,” said Keogan.
Sharon Keogan begins to make her point about Stephen Donnelly's intention to sign Ireland up to the WHO's Global Pandemic Treaty and is immediately shouted down by Jerry Buttimer demanding that she be silenced. pic.twitter.com/lWrziv1ybu
— JRD (@JRD0000) April 26, 2022
“While we are all eager for the lessons learned over the past two years to be consolidated and critically examined, it does not behove the Minister to speak for the people of Ireland in this manner.”
“She added: “This would amount to a piecemeal signing away of sovereignty.”
At this point, she was abruptly cut off by Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer via a point of order, who said: “The Minister for Health is not signing away sovereignty.”
Buttimer continued:
“…our words in this Chamber, and in these Houses of the Oireachtas, matter. The Cathaoirleach, as the presiding officer, has a duty not just to us, as Members, but to the people watching with regard to the false information being given by certain Members. I am making this point deliberately about false information. The Minister for Health is not signing away our sovereignty. He is not.”
He concluded:
“We should not allow these untruths to be perpetrated in this Chamber.”
Buttimer was gently rebuked by the Cathaoirleach for the interruption, at which point Keogan continued her comments.
“The Irish citizen has no say in the governance of the WHO,” she said.
Having moved past the rude interruption, Sharon Keogan goes on to lay out her opposition to Stephen Donnelly signing away Irish sovereignty to the WHO, and calls for such a serious move to be dealt with via referendum. pic.twitter.com/ohtGxX0I4P
— JRD (@JRD0000) April 26, 2022
“And so any handing over of power and responsibility to this body by our own directly-elected representatives must be thoroughly scrutinised.”
She said that while the full details of the Treaty had not yet been released, “there is already cause for concern.”
“An unknown amount of taxpayers’ money could be funnelled into a pooled insurance mechanism, only for Ireland to be cut off from access to such funds if it does not follow the WHO’s plan to the letter,” she said, adding that this would “make future governments of Ireland and future generations of Irish people further beholden to unelected bureaucrats.”
She concluded: “Any such sacrifice of sovereignty must be in accordance with the wishes of the people. It is inappropriate for any senior Government official, or any official, to throw his or her weight behind it before a full referendum of the Irish people is held.”
According to the EU, the proposed “Pandemic Treaty” is a “legally-binding framework, aiming to ensure that the world can better respond to global health threats in the future.”
Earlier this month, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that “Ireland strongly supports a multilateral approach to global health issues with the WHO in a central leadership role.”
“Therefore,” the Minister said, “Ireland supports the WHO led process to negotiate a binding legal instrument on pandemic preparedness and response.”
Additionally, the WHO says that the Treaty will carry with it sanctions against countries which fail to comply with its diktats.
With Ireland set to sign up to the World Health Organisation’s global Pandemic Treaty, the group has sought sanctions against signatory countries which break its rules. https://t.co/XCaiHtdj9Q
— gript (@griptmedia) April 19, 2022
As reported by Politico, World Health Organisation Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the treaty would “have all the incentives, or the carrots” to encourage the enforcement of the rules, including around issues like transparency into pandemic investigations.
“But maybe exploring the sanctions may be important,” he added.
Many have expressed concern that this could constitute an erosion of national sovereignty, including Canadian Conservative Party MP, Dr. Leslyn Lewis, who claimed that the proposed treaty was a “global encroachment on our sovereignty” and would threaten “the independence of our healthcare systems.”
Addressing the WHO pandemic Treaty and our Health Care Sovereignty: My statement – https://t.co/bYMpeQWy6x#cdnpoli #cpcldr pic.twitter.com/nwe3feTZfY
— Dr. Leslyn Lewis (@LeslynLewis) April 9, 2022