Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for their presentation and for the work that has been done over the past few months. The pandemic has been very challenging for everyone in the HSE and the health service.

I wish to refer to the antigen tests that are available in a number of other countries. I understand that the cost of these tests is quite low and that the turnaround time is short, at approximately 15 minutes. That is the first issue. Second, I understand that Vienna is providing testing in schools and that there is a turnaround time of 30 minutes for the results. It is well organised for the schools in Vienna. The third issue I wish to raise is that of mobile testing units and whether additional people could be put into a location quickly when there is a high incidence of Covid.

From the time that there is an increase in the number of positive tests, in what timeframe can we put the necessary people in place to support the staff doing the testing to try to make sure we get results at an early date?