Mr. Damien Owens:

I thank the Deputy for the question. I will address initially the Deputy’s question on the ability of IS 465:2018 to be extended to other regions. Our members undertook a survey about a year into the operation of the scheme to get members' feedback and the evidence from members and registrants was that they had seen evidence of deterioration in other counties. Based upon that and on getting core samples done, which was evidence-based, the case was then made to extend the scheme to those counties. The key thing is that any extension is based upon evidence but that evidence will require a great deal of testing. We and our members are already seeing that there are considerable delays in having additional testing done and there is pressure on testing resources whereas, originally, a test could be completed and results could be back in three or four weeks. That is now taking several months. Mr. Brady will comment on what he has found.