Ms Nicola Perry:

There are, as I said, a cohort of people who do not know how they may have contracted the disease, but their number is relatively small percentage-wise. Then there are what are termed risk behaviours. People need to be aware of risk behaviours, that is, things they may have done in the past. That may be getting a tattoo in an unlicensed setting or what is colloquially referred to as dabbling in drugs. They may have used drugs, not necessarily in an ongoing setting, or done something when they were young once or twice without thinking about it. We come across that in our day-to-day support of people, who come in to talk to us. They have got a positive hepatitis C test result, they have no idea how they might have got it and then we may start to talk through some things with them and there is a recollection that perhaps 20 years ago they did something that could have been the risk number. Deputy Durkan is right that there could be, and there are, a considerable number of people who may have hepatitis but who do not know it. The only way they will know for sure is to test. That is a simple black line. You test and you know; if you do not test, you do not know and it is only suspicion or concern.