With an antigen test currently costing around €7, Donohoe was asked what he believed was a reasonable figure for people to pay.
"What I want to see and what we're trying to work on is [that] for those for whom cost might be a very high barrier to making regular use of antigen testing, we're trying to see is there a way we can help with that cost.Asked whether there was an argument to making the tests free to the public, the Minister said he would not be in favour of such a move."What is the case at the moment is the HSE make them free anyway to those who need them on medical grounds.
"The Government doesn't have any money of its own. The only money the Government has is the money that we either collect in taxes, which is the money of your listeners, or money that we borrow, which your listeners will be paying for tomorrow."I'm not sure there's a case why we should use their money to make it free to them if they're already being purchased in large numbers.