Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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161. To ask the Minister for Health the consideration given to accepting a test to detect Covid-19 (details supplied) instead of standard PCR tests for the purposes of travel into and out of the country; the discussions that have taken place a EU level and with the airlines in relation to this matter in view of the imminent introduction of the digital certificate for travelling in the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30470/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under current measures negative or non-detected pre-departure Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test taken within 72 hours of arrival are accepted for overseas arrivals into Ireland.

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests remain the gold standard in terms of COVID-19 testing, particularly in relation to the screening of travellers.

On an ongoing basis, the National Public Health Emergency Team considers and reviews how best to target testing to detect, and mitigate the impact of, the virus across the population. This includes keeping Ireland’s national testing and tracing policy under continuing review.