Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

I thank the Deputy for his question. I and a colleague have chaired a group which is examining the validation of antigen tests in a range of settings in the country, one of which is meat plants. We have worked with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We have now validated one test that can be used in that setting. What we must understand about rapid antigen testing is that it is not rapid and it is quite resource intensive. Twice weekly testing in meat plants would require a dedicated resource. Alongside that, the performance of these tests is not that good for asymptomatic people when the prevalence of infection starts to fall as is happening now. We are keeping our overall approach with regard to antigen testing in the sector under review.