Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste has now raised the possibility that the Government decision on antigen testing might be delayed until the Cabinet meeting next Tuesday. Does the Taoiseach think this is an acceptable delay? It is 20 months into the pandemic, with more than 5,000 cases on some days, yet there is no action from the Government on this issue. Can the Taoiseach argue with my contention that the more antigen testing is done, the better it is from a public health point of view, and that more testing is likely to happen in the event of the tests being made free? No PCR tests are available in Cork today or tomorrow for anyone applying now. It is the same in 13 other counties. The HSE says that 210,000 tests were done last week. I understand that the laboratories and the test and trace system are coping, but we do not have enough swabbers. I put it to the Taoiseach that we failed to anticipate and put measures in place for this situation. What measures will be put in place now?

Elective hospitals for Cork, Dublin and Galway were mentioned earlier. Government Deputies told the The Echothat there would be an announcement about this in the first week of October. We are now coming towards the end of November. When will we get an announcement about our new elective hospital?

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