Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor Ferguson the report. I will be brief. Professor Ferguson mentioned that things are moving rapidly. I refer to the reports from HIQA of 21 October, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC, of 19 November and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, of 16 December. It would appear that the technology might be moving but policy and Government response is static. I would welcome Professor Ferguson's opinion on the delay in moving on antigen testing and if he believes now is the time to act and to do so immediately. I am interested in hearing his perspective on how this technology could be used in the aviation sector. Is it an option for airline and airport workers in the first instance?

Recommendation B1.9(b)(ii) deals with programmes of repeated rapid testing of essential workers who travel into the country. I ask Professor Ferguson to focus on the following question. Is that a realistic possibility, complementary to PCR or in addition to PCR? There are a lot of people travelling into this country who are subject to a pre-departure PCR test within 72 hours and no post-arrival PCR test. Does Professor Ferguson believe there is need for a pre-departure antigen test and post-arrival serial antigen testing that might meet the same quality standard? In other words, antigen versus PCR serial testing versus one-off testing.