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

I thank Deputy Lowry for his question. To clarify, we have three that have been accepted in full and a further seven that are partially accepted so far. The Deputy asked how many of those are issuing antigen tests. I would presume all of them, but I will check that with Mr. Lowry in case he knows. It is a process that is being managed by the Department of Health because it is a clinical process. It is a process of evaluating whether the State is satisfied that this testing service is competent to carry out the tests and is trustworthy. That is a clinical question. It is an organisational question for the Department of Health rather than my assessment.

In terms of antigen tests, most countries in Europe will accept an antigen test for entry. If you want to travel on an antigen test, you can get a digital Covid certificate that states in the 48 hours before you arrive you have passed your antigen test. The way to tell which countries accept which tests is to go to the Reopen EU website, that is the European Commission's official website for checking what are the rules in place today for each destination country. In sourcing your destination, you say are coming from Ireland and you are going to, for example, Germany, and it will give you all the details about, for example, what tests are accepted and what age the children can be who do not have to be tested, etc. There are slight differences in the rules in each country. It is a burden to have to check that but it is something that has to be done. It states on the digital Covid certificate to check that website before you go.

I do not have an opinion about antigen tests. I would defer to Professor Mary Horgan, who is in charge of the antigen group and who worked on the Ferguson report, and what she has said in public. Professor Horgan says that antigen tests are a useful tool in addition to PCR tests. I suppose every test has its place and has its clinical suitability. I do not really have an opinion on that.

Does Mr. Lowry know whether all of these testing services are for antigen tests as well as PCR tests?