Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will move on to another issue, and I know one or two Deputies have already raised it. It is about the use of antigen, in particular as it relates to, for argument's sake, attending maternity wards, and that issue was raised. We are now talking about doing a pilot project on this, but is there not enough research done on this already? We fully accept that it is not comprehensive or conclusive, but why do we need to do a pilot test when all the information on the use of the antigen test is already there? Why can we not use it regarding maternity services, for instance?

The other big issue now, given that most people over 80 have been vaccinated, is that there is a need to open up day centres they used to attend. It should be remembered that they have been locked up for more than 12 months now. They want to get out. Can that not also be used to try to open up those centres rather than delaying their reopening for another six months? Will that be considered at this stage?