Mr. Damien McCallion:

I will take that back and ensure both where the text is coming from and the perception that someone could cease quarantining is addressed. The latter point is subject to review at EU level.

We have been monitoring the antigen testing for some time. On the specificity and sensitivity of such tests, the performance of some of the early ones produced in the market has so far been poor. In recent months, we have seen some improvement in the tests offered.

HIQA has just undertaken a health technology assessment of alternative testing to PCR. It has asked the HSE to validate it in different sectors. In simple terms, antigen tests, even the strongest ones, perform better in areas where there are symptomatic cases. We have a high number of cases and we are currently verifying it in an outbreak setting. In other words, if one has an outbreak, can it be used quickly to pull people out when PCR will take 24 hours to 48 hours to return? It could be a useful tool in that regard.

I would be cautious, however, in the sense that the performance characteristics of many of the tests are poor. On the back of HIQA's report, which was out last week, we have set up a group to look at the various settings to assess the performance of the test and how it could be used in conjunction with PCR. There is a strong view that it will not replace the PCR test, the gold standard across Europe. The WHO and the ECDC, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, have given strict guidance on its potential use.

Based on HIQA's report, we are validating it and we have a process under way on that. We are working with the different sectors to see where it might have a value. A small number of tests we believe would hit the appropriate level of performance that we could utilise. We have our hands on one of those and we are negotiating on the other two for the purpose of this validation process. We must run those through and see how they perform.

The clear recommendation from HIQA and the WHO is that it has to be run through a validation in one's own country in particular settings. The claimed performance could vary wildly depending on the setting in which one tries it. We have a team working on that currently. It is one we are actively watching but it is too early to commit to its potential.

The WHO gave sanction for it to be used as an alternative in some developing countries which would not have access to PCR. There are clear issues with the numbers one would miss. If PCR is available, then it remains the standard to limit best the spread of the disease.