Dr. Kevin Kelleher:

We find that people are often very unhappy to be told that they are a contact. It is a surprise and not what they wish to hear, particularly because of the implications of the requirement for 14 days of restricted movements. There is a small cohort of parents who are refusing to have their children tested and who get very angry at any suggestion that such testing should be undertaken as a consequence of the tracking process. I have been involved in these things for the past 30 years and it is very difficult to judge who is going to react badly until one gets into the call. Sometimes people will come back on a subsequent call and be very annoyed about things. They might ask why we telephoned them instead of writing to them and so on. It is a very difficult process because it involves dealing with human nature and people have to just try to see their way through it.

As Ms O'Beirne said, the staff in our centres are doing exceptionally well and are spending a lot longer on calls than is absolutely necessary trying to help people to get through the process. Equally, trying to get people to be open and honest with us about who their contacts are takes time. It is not an easy process but people are making those efforts. All we are asking is that people understand that we are just trying to do our job in the centres and trying to help people to control this disease. It is not as if we are doing any of this out of any type of malice. It is quite the opposite. The process is difficult but we will make every effort to accommodate and work with people in those circumstances.