Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will recall that, on Wednesday morning last, he indicated on RTÉ radio he that serial testing was continuing but it then transpired that the HSE had made a decision the day before that it should cease. I wonder if the Minister could indicate when he was informed that serial testing had been suspended and outline exactly how many factories will see serial testing being rolled out this wee, particularly in light of the concerns that have been expressed and given that the Government acknowledges that this testing has had a role to play in tackling the Covid pandemic. As the Minister will be aware, there is a considerable amount of distrust within the communities about the information that comes directly from the meat factories and yet when it comes to the cases and instances of Covid-19, we depend entirely on the meat factories or media sources to get any information. The process has been slow. In fact, when Deputy McConalogue was on this side of the Chamber, he would have heard the then Ministers for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Agriculture, Food and the Marine indicating that they could not even divulge the number of HSA tests being conducted because of confidentiality rules even though that information was released the following day. The Minister will understand why there is confusion and concern. I hope he will be the Minister to put an end to that.

See this speech in context