Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have been watching this with great interest. We are going to see where it goes. Other European countries are looking at scaling up rapid testing, be it molecular or antibody testing, quickly. What Slovakia is doing is interesting. The latest figures I have from public health officials suggest such tests, if they are done right and if the testing is good and the sensitivity and the specificity are right, will capture up to 80% of true positives. That is what we are trying to do. We are watching it closely. Right now, I am pushing for us to get an answer on which of these molecular or antibody tests we can use, because I believe they could be a game-changer. For example, PCR testing costs approximately €200 from end to end and takes time. The antigen tests can cost €10 and are done on-site. In fact, I was given one the other day to take a look at. I am told it took five minutes to do.