John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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716. To ask the Minister for Health the arrangements his Department has made to provide vaccinations for students participating in the Erasmus programme and that must provide proof of full vaccination to the participating college abroad before 15 June 2021; if he will outline the plan immediately to ease the concerns of parents and students that are now having to commit to cost of travel and accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23775/21]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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799. To ask the Minister for Health the special arrangements his Department is making to ensure hundreds of Irish students that will be travelling across Europe on Erasmus+ in August and September 2021 are fully vaccinated beforehand (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24153/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 716 and 799 together.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and my Department, endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020.

On the 23rd of February, I announced an update to Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy. In comprising the initial Vaccine Allocation Strategy, the NIAC listed several conditions associated with increased risk of severe disease and death. In the intervening period, national and international evidence has become available which has enabled a more detailed analysis of underlying conditions that may increase the risk of developing severe disease or death. The NIAC has now been able to more comprehensively identify those medical conditions and to distinguish between those which place a person at very high or high risk of severe disease if they contract the virus. Medical conditions and the magnitude of the risk they pose will continue to be monitored and periodically reviewed.

On the 30th of March, the Government approved a further update to the COVID-19 Vaccination Allocation Strategy. Based on clinical, scientific and ethical frameworks produced by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee and my Department, following the vaccination of those most at risk, future groups will be vaccinated by age, in cohorts of 10 years (i.e., 64-55; 54-45, etc.).

The move to an age-based model better supports the programme objectives by:

- protecting those at highest risk of severe disease first, which benefits everyone most;

- facilitating planning and execution of the programme across the entire country;

- improving transparency and fairness.

Further details are available here:

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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717. To ask the Minister for Health the delivery date, date of use and type of setting they were used of the 500,000 antigen test kits that were delivered to Ireland via the European Union; if any clusters or outbreaks were identified as a result of same being used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23777/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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718. To ask the Minister for Health his plans regarding the wider use of antigen testing in Ireland to assist in the sustained reopening of the country in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23778/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Considerable work has been undertaken to date to evaluate the potential use of rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) in an Irish context and this will continue on an ongoing basis. In the health sector, the HSE has deployed rapid antigen tests for use for specific indications in the acute hospital setting, and as part of the response to outbreaks in the community setting, supported by appropriate clinical governance and operational arrangements. This includes updating the case definition for SARS-CoV-2 to accept notification of positive results from rapid antigen tests undertaken in the public health system and reporting of such cases to the COVID Care tracker and to the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) information system developed to manage the surveillance and control of infectious diseases in Ireland.

Operational planning is also underway in the HSE in relation to the piloting of testing using RADTs in education and childcare settings. This includes development of guidance documentation, a training programme and other related templates and resources to support the testing pathway for educational facilities. The antigen assay to use for the pilot has been selected and stakeholder engagement is ongoing. I am also aware that a further rapid testing partnership initiative by a number of universities, supported by partners including the HSE and HIQA, is also being scoped for piloting in the near future.

The HSE’s Antigen Validation Project Team has conducted a validation study of antigen testing in meat processing facilities. A further pilot of rapid antigen testing in this sector is being overseen by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, supported by the HSE. At the request of the HSE Antigen Test Working Group, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) was requested to examine the impact on transmission risk and resource requirements of different approaches to serial testing using rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) in meat processing plants. The result of this analysis was published on 30 April 2021. HIQA modelled the impact of different serial testing scenarios using RADTS in these settings both in addition to, and as an alternative to, the current practice of monthly RT-PCR-based serial testing. HIQA found the preferred testing strategy used RADT-based serial testing once weekly with positive antigen tests confirmed by RT-PCR. It should be noted that HIQA has stated that, as the data collected is specific to the environment of meat processing plants, it would be inappropriate to apply the results of this analysis to other settings.

The “Report of the COVID-19 Rapid Testing Group” which was chaired at my request by the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Mark Ferguson, and published on 1 April 2021, made a number of recommendations for sectors outside the health sector and these are a matter for the Ministers and Departments with responsibility for the sectors concerned.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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719. To ask the Minister for Health the reason Israel was included in the countries from which travel required mandatory hotel quarantine in spite of its vaccination record and low transmission figure. [23786/21]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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839. To ask the Minister for Health the criteria that will be used to adjudicate if a country should remain on the mandatory hotel quarantine list particularly EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24322/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 719 and 839 together.

States are designated under the Health Act 1947 by the Minister for Health following consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and across Government as necessary.

An Expert Advisory Group on Travel to the CMO (EAGT) was established on 1 March 2021 to develop a method of risk assessing countries and to consider broader issues of travel and COVID-19. The Group has developed an approach to risk assessments in keeping with guidance of the WHO and ECDC and which is aligned to the legislative framework in place for mandatory quarantine. The approach is reviewed on a regular basis and currently recommends prioritisation of mandatory quarantine as follows:

- Countries with prevalence or suspected prevalence of known variants of concern/ variants of interest.

- Countries with a very high 14-day incidence (≥500/100,000).

- Countries with a high 14-day incidence (greater than 2.5 times Ireland’s 14-day incidence but <500/100,000).

Epidemiological data is reviewed, at a minimum, on a weekly basis. Recommendations for addition to the list of Designated States are made every two weeks, and recommendations for revocation of countries as Designated States are made weekly. The Chief Medical Officer considers these recommendations and in turn makes recommendations to the Minister for Health who forms his own opinion with respect to the designation of individual states.