Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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215. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has consulted with the Minister for Health in respect of the use of antigen testing in the context of a Covid-19 mitigation measure in order to expedite the full resumption of the inbound and outbound transit from Irish airports; and if he has conducted a review of the most effective methods of testing in respect of travel that falls under his responsibility. [29163/21]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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216. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to inconsistencies in the way in which one cohort of persons is treated in respect of travel and the use of antigen testing (details supplied). [29164/21]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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245. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if rapid antigen testing can be considered and put in place in order to accommodate the opening of international travel during the summer months. [29653/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 215, 216 and 245 together.

Our public health authorities are responsible for determining the most appropriate testing regimes for COVID-19 in Ireland, and Government is guided by their recommendations. My Department assists with the implementation of public health measures in relation to international travel, as decided by Government.

I am aware that considerable work has been undertaken to date to evaluate the potential use of rapid antigen tests in an Irish context. The Government has decided, however, that for testing for international travel to Ireland a Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test is the only test that is accepted.

Statutory Instrument No. 11 of 2021, which was signed by the Minister for Health on 15 January 2021, sets out the requirement for passengers to have evidence of a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test that was carried out no more than 72 hours prior to arrival in Ireland.