Mr. Paul Reid:

I thank the Deputy for his opening comments. I have three quick responses. On his first comment in terms of beating the virus, I would make the plea to the committee that we are, quite rightly and understandably, challenged in the context of testing and tracing and ICU bed capacity. However, the real way we will beat this virus is in the community. Every individual action we all take will make a huge difference. It made a difference last time and we are calling on the public to make the difference again this time.

Second, on looking at the smaller areas, I am not trying to be short with the Deputy but, ultimately, that is a decision on an evaluation made by NPHET and not directly by the HSE. Evaluation of data or can it be dropped to smaller areas is a decision for NPHET.