Mr. Paul Reid:

I thank the Deputy for his opening comments which, I am sure, our teams around the country and all Deputies will appreciate. On the question regarding testing in Kildare, I agree with the Deputy. We have put in significant resources, including the installation of pop-up centres throughout the weekend of the emerging outbreaks, the national ambulance service, home visits and extended opening hours of a range of centres in the county and outside of the county.

On the specific out-of-hours issue, I was in dialogue with the Minister on it. I understand the Minister engaged with the Deputy on the issue over the weekend. There should not be a charge for out-of-hours services for Covid referrals. There is a national agreement. The agreement was due to expire but it has been extended and is under discussion in terms of a further extension. It is expected that will happen. It is applicable all across the country. I will ask my colleagues to get under the bonnet in regard to KDoc to find out exactly what the issue is. At a national level, we have extended the agreement to all out-of-hours services and there should not be a charge. We have to close out whatever the issue is in that regard.