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

As I said earlier, we scaled up testing to the capacity of about 30,00 a day. We brought the Defence Forces, the private sector and the public sector on board. However, there are limitations to capacity when it comes to testing, as is the case in any country of the world, and that is why we have to prioritise. We are prioritising those with GP referrals, those who are symptomatic close contacts of somebody who has been diagnoses with Covid. We have had to do this several times during the course of the pandemic. There comes a point when there are so many people with symptoms that it is not possible to test everyone within 24 hours, and that is why we have to prioritise.

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