Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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2497. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures that are in place in meat plants to halt the spread of the P1 variant of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19386/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Health and the HSE are the competent authorities in matters relating to public health. My Department continues to contribute to the HSE-chaired National Outbreak Control Team as part of the whole-of-Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is supporting the HSE in the context of local outbreak teams and overseeing a programme of serial testing of workers at larger food plants and other businesses.

Serial testing (i.e. four weeks of weekly testing) at food production facilities started in September 2020. Seven cycles have since been completed and an eight cycle is currently in progress. A positivity rate of 0.66% for the seventh cycle confirms the downward trend seen since cases peaked in January. At the end of the first week of the current cycle, 5,616 swabs had been taken in 28 facilities, and 20 positive cases detected, giving a positivity rate of 0.36% for the week.

The Department continues to provide any assistance requested by the HSE to facilitate this testing programme. It has also been assisting the HSE in relation to the use of rapid antigen detections tests (RADT) for SARS-CoV-2 as a risk management tool in food businesses. To facilitate the rollout of antigen testing at meat plants, 26 sites have been registered and almost 17,000 testing kits supplied. Training videos have been made available online since 12 March and webinars delivered by staff from the Department and UCD have been well attended. In addition, laboratory staff from the Department have made site visits on request to provide further guidance to Food Business Operators (FBOs) on self-sampling and on-site testing.

Furthermore, officials from my Department undertake inspections on behalf of the HSA, including unannounced inspections, in DAFM-approved food premises and these inspections are ongoing.