Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will move on and then the other witnesses can come in as we go along. I want to take up a couple of points. We are not saying that rapid antigen testing should replace PCR testing. It is quite the reverse and we are saying they should be complementary to each other. Dr. Holohan makes reference to the Ferguson report and he is saying he is in agreement with it. Has the report been discussed by NPHET? We are putting it in the initial context for this committee around aviation and travel.

Is it fair to say that if someone takes a PCR test three days prior to arrival in Ireland, there is no guarantee that he or she will not have developed a high viral load and be very infectious when boarding a plane on the third day? When such a person boards a plane he or she could infect others on the plane. We believe that rapid antigen testing has a role to play post-departure. It can be done within an hour.

I take the point made by Professor Keogan on tests for a large number of people. I am talking about a test for one person going on a plane. Are there any situations to date where someone who travelled into Ireland with a negative PCR test was found after a number of days to be symptomatic, and went for a PCR test which turned out to be positive? Surely rapid antigen testing has a role to play as part of the toolkit alongside PCR in terms of reducing the risk of Covid regarding detection. No test is foolproof, including PCR testing. We accept PCR is the standard.

The report benchmarked antigen against PCR being at one. It is not at one. It is a great test and it is standard. I ask the witnesses to deal with that point. Has NPHET discussed the Ferguson report? My basic question concerns antigen testing being done pre-departure. Have passengers come into Ireland after a negative PCR test and then a couple of days later developed symptoms and had a positive PCR test? Contact tracing goes back 48 hours. All of the people on the plane would be deemed to have been close contacts and if the person had been tested pre-departure he or she would have been Covid positive.