Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests and thank them for being here. I have a number of questions. I will begin with questions to the witnesses for the Department and the HSE.

In response to a question I put to the Taoiseach three weeks ago, I was told that testing for Covid-19 cost €200 per test. My presumption was that was the cost of testing carried our in German laboratories. Earlier, we were told that the cost of a test is €120. In my investigations I have found laboratories in west Cork that can carry out Covid-19 tests for under €50. Everyone has a different figure. Why did the HSE not use Irish laboratories, which are up to 75% cheaper in terms of testing?