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

-----I do apologise. I am happy to clarify. I believe I said there is a large amount of some items available but that there is a shortage of other items, such as gowns. It is not just a case of having supplies in the HSE's warehouses; they must also be distributed to all the different centres and people and then replenished because, obviously, people use them. Systems need to be in place not only to order supplies and to get them into the warehouse, but also to get it to 3,000 to 4,000 sites around the country. Those facilities themselves need to get it to the different wards, departments and individuals, such as home helps, who may need it. Again, I am not sure what the objection is but I make the point that just having the supplies is not the solution; a whole network is needed to distribute them to the different sites and to individual staff members. These supplies also need to be replenished. An effective system to tell one when stocks are getting low is also needed. It is a huge operation. Given that we anticipate using in the course of a few months what would normally be used in the course of 13 years, the logistical challenge is evident and should not be dismissed or downplayed by anyone.

The issue of reagents is just one of the potential bottlenecks that can occur in testing. Others can be, for example, shortages of swabs, the functioning of testing centres-----

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