Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the questions. To answer the question about the call centre, this week we have been running an emergency call centre. The contact number is on the cover letter or email that a person gets upon receipt of their digital Covid certificate. That is for emergency problems, rather than asking to be pushed up the list, or for general questions. The call centre is being run by Revenue and the Department of Social Protection. I am told that they have been getting 4,000 calls a day. They have 25 to 30 agents manning the phones. Next Monday, the number of agents will increase significantly. Next Monday, the call centre will deal with regular issues, such as reissuing of lost certificates, or other similar problems. That will be a larger service. Mr. Barry Lowry might say something about this. The call centre service is being provided by the Department of Health. It was decided that the Department of Health would run the service because it is closest to the vaccination data and understands it best. That is why the Department of Health is the Department that is running it. Does Mr. Lowry know anything beyond what will happen on Monday? I understand that it will be upgraded and that there will be more staff to carry out more functions by Monday. Is that correct?