Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

First, the Senator asked how people apply. In the case of a test certificate, people go to an accredited laboratory, which sends their certificate to them. They give their email address at the time and it is sent on to them. People choose whether they want it on paper or on their phone. How do people apply for a vaccination certificate or recovery certificate? The HSE will contact people by email and they can opt to download it from there. There is, therefore, no requirement in that regard.

Data were gathered very carefully all the way through the vaccination stage and stored in the COVAX system, which the HSE is using to keep track of who has been vaccinated and who has tested positive in the past nine months. Those data have been analysed. I would not say we are at design stage. The specification was laid out by the EU over the past six months or so.

The Senator asked about antigen tests and the costs and so forth. A person can have an antigen test on his or her certificate and if somebody accepts that in another country, that is great. If the Minister for Health and the Government decide to accept antigen tests for people coming in, they will be accepted too. The antigen tests, however, must be performed by either a medical professional or somebody who is qualified to do so. The current rate is not that much cheaper than a PCR test so that is something to bear in mind.