Mr. Liam Herrick:

If I might add to that, any proposal to compel people to undertake testing or any medical treatment would give rise to very serious legal questions which would need to be considered in detail.

There would need to be careful deliberation and consultation in advance of them. It is a further example of one of the very complex issues we are trying to deal with at the moment. I do not think it is helpful to talk about introducing measures that are mandatory and compulsory for a particular section of the community without a proper exploration of the legal issues that might arise.

Certainly direct provision has been identified as one of the grave areas of concern over the past months. It is an interesting contrast with the Irish Prison Service where there was considerable success from the point of view of controlling the disease, although there were significant consequences for prisoners and their families in terms of their access. In respect of direct provision, the State does not exercise direct control and there are not clear lines of accountability or responsibility, and we have had ongoing concerns. If there is a criticism to be made here, while we have got very assertive action by the State in some areas of private life where there is no clear evidence of a high risk or problem at the moment, we have seen less action than we would have expected in areas where there is a demonstrable high risk. Specifically we are talking about the ongoing problems in direct provision where people are continuing to live in dangerous situations, and the fact that we have factories operating in some sections of the economy where there is a clear risk as well. This is one of the problems for the public perception of the Government response. It is difficult for the public to see the coherence of criminal sanctions and assertive action around some areas of private activity along with an absence of action where there is a clear risk.