Greens are not opposed to vaccination programmes

YOUR readers could have been forgiven for thinking Dr Ruairi Hanley (Irish Examiner letters, February 8) was motivated solely by concern for the wellbeing of children when he criticised the Green Party’s “so-called” health policy.

In fact, it’s also likely Dr Hanley’s letter — to which you gave so much prominence — was politically motivated. He is, after all, a member of the PDs and stood for that party in the local elections, getting 2.6% of the vote in Bray, which was a notable achievement given their current poll rating of 1%.

For the record, there is no mention at all of vaccination in the new Green Party primary healthcare document and we have never opposed vaccination programmes. Perhaps if Dr Hanley had paid any attention to my statements in the Dáil, he would have noticed quite a number of parliamentary questions to his party colleague, Health Minister Mary Harney, about the supply of vaccines to deal with a possible flu pandemic. We have insisted that all programmes are properly monitored for safety and are not compulsory.