Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to mention our ports too, which will need to have these testing facilities. PCR is recognised by the Department of Health as the standard test. There was an understandable call from the aviation industry that it wants a rapid, efficient, low-cost test that will help passengers, not add to the financial burden of connectivity. To answer the Deputy's questions, there is a range of tests such as antigen tests and LAMP tests. Work has been done on validating those. We have to work with the Department of Health to validate those, so it is not just the Department of Transport working on those. It also includes the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Business, Enterprise and Innovation. It is a cross-governmental approach. We have to ensure that we are not impacting on the PCR capacity of the country's health system. As those extra tests become validated, they will be very welcome.