Mr. Marcus Keane:

I thank the Deputy for the question. The recommendations that we outline in the report are largely set out in a stepwise manner. The first difficulty is in identifying what the challenge is in each particular region. From talking to people, I do not think that the burden of the disease is likely to be exactly the same from place to place. As Dr. O'Carroll has said, it is probably not a worthwhile endeavour to try to test everybody. First of all, the issue is understanding how the burden of the disease is likely to be distributed across Ireland, working with experts on the ground who are able to tell us what it looks like from their perspective. It might be that the burden of the disease lies with groups of people who are using drugs intravenously. The burden may lie with people who come from communities that have high levels of hepatitis C. The focus may need to be placed there. The response must be varied based on the distribution of the burden of the disease. Once we have that information and know exactly what it looks like, it is a matter of putting in place the resources and the plan to implement it.