Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Of the 2,900 people who were confirmed positive, it is very serious that 1,300 of their contacts did not turn up for their tests. Notwithstanding Dr. Doherty's reply, we need to interrogate the situation more and learn more about the status of those people, if there is an age profile and whether there was a cluster of cases. We need to know more. I do not doubt her intention to find out more but I am most concerned. It is very serious if we not do turn up when we are a contact of a confirmed case. In theory, we could have it and pass it on to many more people. I say that notwithstanding all the good work Dr. Doherty is doing. How does she intend to follow this up? Can she get more data? Should it be a mandatory requirement for a person to turn up for a test if he or she is called? One is protecting other people if one does attend and one is not protecting them if one does not.