Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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632. To ask the Minister for Health the measures being taken to determine if PCR test results are real and not fake. [5099/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE has adopted RNA PCR as the gold standard test for diagnosing Covid-19. This is consistent with international best practice. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recommend that nucleic acid amplification tests, such as RT-PCR, should be used to detect suspected, active SARS-CoV-2 infection. The advice of the WHO and the ECDC is available on their websites. For example, in its Technical Report “Options for the use of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 in the EU/EEA and the UK”, published on 19 November 2020, the ECDC confirmed that “To date, testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection mostly relies on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed on a nasopharyngeal specimen. This testing method remains the gold standard for detecting SARS-CoV-2 and is characterised by both high sensitivity and specificity in detecting viral ribonucleic acid (RNA).”

The HSE continues to monitor the evidence for other testing types in conjunction with other public bodies, such as the Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA), and having regard to best international evidence and advice. On an ongoing basis, the National Public Health Emergency Team considers and reviews, based on public health risk assessments, how best to target testing to detect, and mitigate the impact of, the virus across the population. This includes keeping Ireland’s national testing policy under continuing review.