Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I am concerned about what we have we heard from Applus and the RSA, and the Minister of State is today just reflecting figures that Applus is giving him. He said 35,000 tests have been done, a significant improvement on December; however, it is no improvement at all on the figures we were given in the committee on 23 January. The figures the Minister have given are 599 staff plus eight; in January we were told there were 610 staff. Where is the increase in staff and in the number of tests being done? The waiting time of just under 26 days is exactly what it was in January. We are not seeing the improvement or the increase in capacity. Most importantly, we are not seeing a reduction in waiting times.

I would appreciate if the Minister of State addressed the issue of free tests as well.

See this speech in context