Dr. Ronan Glynn:

Some of this is for the HSE because it is developing its forward-facing testing strategy at the moment. The Department will be working with it on that.

Let me refer to a key point to which I am hesitant to return. Last March, when we did not have enough testing capacity at all, a key point we had to keep making - perhaps this message has got lost in recent times - was that a test shows someone if he or she is positive but that, in the vast majority of cases, it does not change what people need to do. While no delay is acceptable, and I would be the first to argue we need a faster turnaround, I contend that, regardless of whether someone receives an appointment in the morning or afternoon or the next morning, if he or she is isolating and if his or her family and household contacts are doing the right thing and restricting movement, there should not be a knock-on effect. That is an important message which is perhaps getting lost. Testing is really important. People need to know whether they are positive but, regardless of whether they are, the message on what they should be doing while waiting for a test needs to be circulated. They need to isolate.