Dr. Ronan Glynn:

One of the general misconceptions is that we have just not bothered to do these pilot studies. The reality is that many of the types of study that the Deputy is talking about have not been done in Ireland or internationally. It is not as simple as turning up at the airport with a couple of thousand antigen tests, handing them out and seeing what they show. A test validation study comprises a set of steps and there is a range of concerns to do with ethical acceptability and the performance and logistics of the test, all of which have to be considered as part of the work. When we say we do not have evidence, it is not that we do not have evidence in Ireland. Rather, there is no evidence internationally. Other countries have not been able to do these studies to the necessary standard. To give an example of that,-----