Results 9,741-9,760 of 26,021 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Professor Ferguson. I ask members to follow on with questions. This is about extracting the maximum amount of information from the research carried out by Professor Ferguson. The next speaker is Senator Dooley.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: We have to move on. The Senator has had nearly six minutes. I will allow him in at the end.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I ask Professor Ferguson to give us a "Yes" or "No" answer as I am conscious of other members.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Following on from that, how long would it take to get a pilot scheme up and running? Has Professor Ferguson had interaction with the Government about setting up such a pilot scheme? If there was a pilot scheme up and running and the barcode system was in place, coupled with the vaccination programme now under way nationwide, including here, and with the digital green pass now being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: My question is-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: How quickly could a pilot be set up and the results concluded?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Could it be done in a month?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Has Professor Ferguson had interaction with the Government regarding the recommendations in his report? I refer specifically to interaction with the Department of Transport in respect of aviation. The vaccination programme is very much under way in different countries. How does that feed into the professor's thinking around pre and post-departure antigen testing for air travel, linked with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: We will follow up with the Department and ask it to interact with Professor Ferguson immediately with regard to a pilot scheme for antigen testing in the aviation sector. We can do it in the essential worker space, as Professor Ferguson recommended in his report. Will he comment on the vaccination programme that is under way and the digital green pass being proposed by the European...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Professor Ferguson is referring to antigen testing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I ask Deputy Ó Murchú for his concluding remarks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: We now move to the Fine Gael slot. Deputy Crowe has three to four minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: What did I say?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am obviously moving ahead of the trend. I apologise; it was a Freudian slip.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: We already agreed to write to the Department of Transport to ask that it engages with Professor Ferguson to set up a pilot scheme. The Deputy has put forward the construct of what that pilot scheme should look like. We will include that in the recommendation. Other matters may come up in the course of the meeting. We have already taken a decision today. We will write to the Department...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: When we write to the Department, we will implicitly ask it to link up with the UK. It should be an integrated approach between ourselves and the UK. There are benefits in terms of the North-South angle. It is a collaborative process. We will include that in our request to the Department of Transport.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: It runs in parallel with establishing a system to operate it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Senator Buttimer has four minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Professor Ferguson, if the Government were to ask you to head such a pilot programme, particularly in the context of aviation, for example, is it a position you would be willing to take? You recommended in your report that an expert group be established. If the Government approached you to lead such a group in a pilot programme, would you be willing to undertake that task?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Report of the Covid-19 Rapid Testing Group: Discussion with Science Foundation Ireland (5 May 2021)

Kieran O'Donnell: Professor Ferguson's report on the aviation sector is great work. It has been idle for too long, for the last month. I note that on page 47 he makes a specific recommendation about a test to release, to reduce harms from unnecessary quarantine, for example of asymptomatic contacts, critical workers and international travellers. It is a recommendation. We will write to the Department of...