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Plan to subsidise antigen tests to be signed off on later this week or next Tuesday, says Tánaiste

Subsidised antigen tests are expected to be made available at pharmacies for €2 to €3.

LAST UPDATE | 23 Nov 2021

A MEMO ON the subsidising of antigen tests for use by the public should be ready to be brought to Cabinet either by the end of the week or next Tuesday, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.

It was widely expected that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly would bring proposals to Cabinet today on the plans for reducing the cost of antigen tests.

However, no memo was brought, with government sources stating that work was ongoing with the likes of pharmacists and retailers as to how to make the tests more affordable. 

When asked about the delay, Varadkar said this evening that the objective is to get them down to a “reasonable cost” which he said is between €2 and €4 per test. 

Sources have said that contracts have yet to be drawn up and conditions around the cost per box is still to be determined.

“We’re working with the pharmacies, and also the supermarkets and retailers on that,” said Varadkar, who said his department is working alongside the Department of Health on the matter.

“We could have a memo by the end of the week, it could be next Tuesday, but I think it’d be this week or next,” he said.

When asked when details might be finalised, a government spokesperson said that no deadline had been set.

Speaking today, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that no official decision has been made and that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is to bring recommendations to Cabinet in the coming days. 

“We are looking at what will be the cost in relation to this. But of course anything that slows down and contains the spread of Covid at the cost of that has tended to be a very good investment,” Donohoe said. 

He added that plans are being drawn up as to how an adequate supply of tests will be in the right places at the right times.

The Government had been considering the introduction of subsidised antigen tests, which would be made available at pharmacies, but there have also been considerations about what role retailers could play.

Currently, one antigen test can cost less than €10, and a pack of five can cost up to €30.

The plan comes despite reports over the weekend that Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan sent an email to the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last week warning against the plan to roll out reduced-rate antigen tests.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris also confirmed that the final decision is yet to be made on a Government-backed subsidy for antigen testing.

Harris said Donnelly will soon bring a final proposal to Cabinet for the public to be provided with cheaper antigen tests.

No decision made yet 

“There is a final decision needed in relation to the subsidy and the cost.

“And I’ve no doubt the Minister for Health will bring that forward shortly. But I should say we’ve come an awful long way on antigen testing,” he said.

Harris said that since June, 25,000 rapid tests have been used at University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway and University College Cork as he defended the Government from criticism that it has been unwilling to wholeheartedly back antigen tests.

“They are free in many circumstances. So we’re not charging the students and the staff. We’re not charging close contacts. There isn’t a cost as far as I know, in the nursing homes, and whether you do that more broadly is a matter for the Minister for Health to obviously bring advice forward to Government,” he told reporters at Dublin Castle.

Harris, a former health minister, appeared alongside Trinity College Dublin immunology expert Professor Luke O’Neill to call on people to submit ideas to the Government’s Creating our Future campaign.

“I certainly know in my own life, more and more people are just getting on with it as well,” Harris said.

“And people are buying the antigen test in the supermarket, in the pharmacy, but I accept that there’s a cost associated with that.

“And if we want people to do that regularly, and I do want to see people do that regularly, I think it’s important that we help them with the cost.”

Harris also said it is important, even as Covid-19 cases rise and pressure on hospitals grows, not to “catastrophise” the situation.

“We all just need to proceed with caution. We do have to be careful not to catastrophise the situation as well.”

“This is different to last Christmas. It’s a moment of challenge, absolutely. But it’s a different challenge,” he told reporters.

Should have been introduced months ago

Prof O’Neill said he would have liked widespread antigen testing to have been introduced several months ago.

“I feel we should have got the message out pretty clear that these are very useful, this is the way to use them.

“And I would have done that three, four or five months ago, really. I’m slightly saying it’s been a bit slow. Now we’re getting there, though.”

He also said the Irish Government should use Merck’s anti-Covid pill.

The European Medicines Agency has said that while the drug has not been approved, individual states can decide whether to use it to treat the most at-risk people.

Prof O’Neill said it could cut hospital admissions by up to 50%.

“We should get that out now in our country, because that will help people at risk of severity and that will decrease hospitalisations.”

“Can you imagine if we’d half the people ending up in hospital now, less pressure on hospitals now?”

Earlier, Sinn Fein health spokesperson David Cullinane said Mr Donnelly was “not at the races” and accused him of not being “on top of his brief”.

“I have to say throw the kitchen sink at all of the tools that are at the state’s disposal, an individual’s disposal, to combat the spread of Covid-19.

“And that was the ambition – testing has a role to play. And I think it’s incredible that we still don’t have a plan. And we still don’t have any notion of what the Government is going to do in relation to costings.

“They’ve been talking and talking, talking about antigen testing, and people are getting really fed up of the incoherency, the lack of planning, the lack of engagement and the lack of urgency coming from Government.”

Public health officials reported 5,634 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland yesterday. There were 684 Covid-19 patients in hospital, of whom 126 were in ICUs.

A Cabinet sub-committee yesterday discussed support measures for the hospitality sector. It was anticipated that the government may pause plans to move to a two-tier payment programme with the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), but no changes were agreed yesterday.

The committee also discussed the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), which was cut last week. There have been calls for the government to reverse this reduction following new measures and public health advice relating to the hospitality sector and socialising. 

However the government has indicated it will not reinstate previous rates of PUP. 

Separately, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien will bring a memo to Cabinet today on the establishment of the independent Commission on Housing, which will consider long-term housing policy in Ireland.

The minister is to seek expressions of interest for membership of the commission, which is set to be established before Christmas.

There will be twelve members on the commission, and it will also have ability to establish sub-committees to deal with various issues and to seek expert views on housing.

The terms of reference for the commission will be published once its establishment has been approved by Cabinet.

It is expected the commission will examine the wording of a possible referendum on housing, as well as other issues such as cost and quality of housing, construction sector capacity, and the types of tenure available.

Contains reporting by Christina Finn, Garreth MacNamee and Press Association 

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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ted Logan
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:47 AM

    A shortage!?! Lettuce pray!

    148
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    Mute Niall O'Reilly
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:12 PM

    It’s ridiculous that Ireland can’t supply herself with salad and vegetables. The country has great land and weather for such produce. We should be easily self sufficient . We should be able to supply Europe too! The likes of Tesco Ireland should only sell home grown produce.

    93
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    Mute Richard Paul
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:16 PM

    The weather is not right , 12 months of the year . We depend on Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere produce based on seasonality to supplement what we can produce.

    29
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    Mute Brian MacCarthaigh
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:31 PM

    @Niall O’Reilly:Try growing lettuce during wintertime in Ireland.

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    Mute Colm Vambeck
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:42 PM

    @Brian MacCarthaigh: No problem, its growing in the Botanical gardens in Dublin outside right now. Even easier in a tunnel.

    28
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    Mute The Viking
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 1:08 PM

    @Colm Vambeck:- Correct. There are a lot of farmers in North County Dublin / Meath areas that grow lettuce through out the year. Then Keelings by the Airport have Gigantic greenhouses that grow peppers, lettuces, berries and all other types of veg you would think wouldn’t be plausible to grow in Ireland. They actually have an excellent Farm Shop at their entrance on the St. Margerets Road. (Finglas to Swords )

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 1:20 PM

    @The Viking:
    Price……
    There will always be a market for homegrown greenhouse vegetables and some people will pay a premium for them but the vast majority will buy the cheapest available.
    Best of luck to the Keeling’s in their shop by the way.

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    Mute Niall O'Reilly
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:02 PM

    Nonsense. We can grow everything in Ireland. You just need a greenhouse or a plastic tunnel. In Iceland they are self sufficient in tomatoes and cucumbers and my neighbor here in Brittany has 100 oranges on his orange tree in a climate often colder than Ireland!

    16
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    Mute Niall O'Reilly
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:04 PM

    Have you heard of a green house.?No problem at all under glass.

    11
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    Mute Paul Somers
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:48 PM

    @Richard Paul: In a wee greenhouse (6 x 10) in the south of the country, we have all salad ingredients for our house all year around. We are still eating the spuds, carrots, parsnips and more from the wee veg plot. Hadn’t bought a spud in 5 years.

    17
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    Mute Richard Paul
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 4:32 PM

    @ Paul Somers; Fair Play to you If it is practical for you to do that . But certain produce can not be grown in Ireland, in the quantities needed to satisfy the demand for them.

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    Mute Paul
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:55 AM

    Sorry who buys more than one in one go?!

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    Mute Jane Bresnan
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:45 PM

    @Paul: People buying for a family.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 1:08 PM

    @Paul:
    Harvey the rabbit??

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    Mute Alan Cooke
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:20 PM

    @Paul:
    That new chain of shops, Chopped?
    Be interesting to see what they substitute lettuce with now.

    15
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    Mute Paul Somers
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:43 PM

    Restaurants, Pubs, Cafe’s
    A number of local establishments purchase salad ingredients in Aldi / Lidi as the cost is sometimes below ‘Musgrave’s’ price point.

    16
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    Mute cryptoskitzo
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:44 PM

    This is a great day for salad dodgers

    45
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    Mute WJH
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:44 PM

    Just have a bloody salad without lettuce. A salad with sausages and rashers and eggs and pudding. A salad with no salad.

    34
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    Mute O Swetenham
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:53 AM

    Managed to buy some from a shady character on Moore street . Bit pricey though, €5 for a half dozen lettuce leaves and €7.50 for a reasonably sized courgette.

    29
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    Mute James
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:58 PM

    I’d say the Kinahans and the Hutches are repurposing the grow houses as we speak ….

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    Mute Billy Big Ballz
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:46 AM

    RIP to all the poor slippy slugs

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    Mute Mahmoud O'Connell
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:49 AM

    lettuce spray…

    31
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    Mute Shane Murphy
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:58 AM

    So busy giving out to super valu the farmers forgot about the poor oll lettuce

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    Mute david harold
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 3:22 PM

    I blame vegetarians for eating all our side salads for their main courses.

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    Mute watersedge
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:47 AM

    Went to Supervalue, Tesco’s and Aldi looking for courgettes. Lidl is the only place you can get them.

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    Mute Ruth Colbert
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 6:35 PM

    Swear to God, I was blaming bloody operation transformation !

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    Mute Concerned Citizen
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 2:14 PM

    Woa muah gawd, cannot cope, like whats a B.L.T. without the L. :(
    And I’m a vegan so no B either. :((

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    Mute Eye_c_u
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 3:07 PM

    Didn’t take long for someone to announce they were vegan did it

    12
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    Mute Mahmoud O'Connell
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 11:48 AM

    Simply weather related.

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    Mute Red hurley
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 3:31 PM

    Do we not grow it here?

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    Mute Hugh Gallagher
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 3:19 PM

    Iceberg hopefully… its the marmite of lettii

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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 4:23 PM

    @Hugh Gallagher: At least Jamie Oliver had the right idea with Iceburg lettuce…put them in a clay trap and blast them with No.7 shot. It’s a veg designed for supermarkets and catering due to lasting longer than most people who eat it.

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    Mute Gerard Doherty
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 12:36 PM
    2
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    Mute Gerry Fallon
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 5:40 PM

    Leaf it out will ye!

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    Mute Elaine
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    Feb 4th 2017, 2:03 AM

    Ah..sure I can see it now “garda raid grow house..”(surely it’s herbal and illegal) ..garda looks sad and says “nah tis only lettuce..feck it”

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    Mute Ryan Hardy
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    Feb 3rd 2017, 8:57 PM

    Nothing of nutritional value in lettuce anyway

    1
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