Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not aware of any specific issues relating to delayed tests in Louth or Meath. I will pass it on to the Minister for Health and ask him to provide Deputy Byrne with a detailed reply.

It certainly is no secret that blood tests, X-rays, operations and all sorts of investigations are outsourced to the private sector and private laboratories. That has been the case for a long time. Indeed, many Irish people spend a great deal of money to have tests done in private facilities, whether laboratories or radiology centres. I hope, notwithstanding recent events, that people do not make the assumption that Irish or public laboratories are necessarily better than private ones. Any of these laboratories are of course ISO-accredited.

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