Dr. Ronan Glynn:

The second question is for the HSE directly. With regard to antigen testing, the Deputy has raised an interesting point on whether the evidence is not there. There is a real debate going on in the medical and scientific community on the value or otherwise of antigen testing. Just because we all want something to be really effective and make an enormous difference it does not mean that it will. Some of the portrayal of antigen testing internationally is that it would prevent lockdowns and would be the panacea. There simply is not evidence in the medical or scientific literature to support this. Our public health and pathology colleagues in the HSE who deal with these issues on a daily basis do not support this view. However, there is a role for antigen testing in particular settings as an additional layer. Ultimately, it has to be driven by our clinical colleagues in the HSE and where they see a value in antigen testing. To be very clear, wherever antigen testing can play an additional role and bring additional value over and above our public health response, it should be facilitated, trialled and used. I also reiterate that we have been looking very closely at the evidence on antigen testing since last August. It is not that the issue was ignored or sidelined. It was looked at actively and the reality is that certainly up to a couple of weeks ago there was no test validated for use on asymptomatic people.