{"id":1734,"date":"2021-11-29T11:07:29","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T11:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/scrapping-antigen-test-subsidy-a-serious-dereliction-of-duty\/"},"modified":"2021-11-29T11:07:29","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T11:07:29","slug":"scrapping-antigen-test-subsidy-a-serious-dereliction-of-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/scrapping-antigen-test-subsidy-a-serious-dereliction-of-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"Scrapping Antigen Test Subsidy A Serious Dereliction Of Duty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>This is a decision that makes no sense on either public health or financial grounds<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The decision of the government to scrap a subsidy scheme for antigen tests is a serious dereliction of duty, according to Social Democrats Health Spokesperson R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt beggars belief that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly would announce a U-turn of this scale, as an aside in a media interview, on RTE radio \u2013 after senior ministers spent weeks assuring people a subsidy scheme was nearing completion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government has now washed its hands of any responsibility in the provision of antigen tests. Its latest stance means that it has no role in their pricing, availability, accessibility or quality control. This is a serious dereliction of duty as the government contemplates further restrictions to control the spread of covid in the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the start of the month, Nphet changed its advice on antigen tests and advised that anyone engaged in so-called risky activities \u2013 which can be summarised as, leaving your home to meet people indoors \u2013 should take two antigen tests per week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn recognition of the increased financial burden this places on households, particularly low income households, the government opted to provide a subsidy for antigen tests, rather than offer them free of charge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we learn that because antigen tests are available in certain retailers for approximately \u20ac3 or \u20ac4 a test, the government is scrapping its proposed subsidy. Apparently, it believes that this is an affordable price for households to absorb.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis again shows how out of touch this government has become. It has no comprehension of the financial struggles that ordinary people in Ireland are enduring. Antigen tests that are \u20ac3 or \u20ac4 each may be affordable for government ministers, but they are priced out of reach of many low and middle income workers and families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are in the midst of a huge cost-of-living crisis and the failure to make antigen tests genuinely affordable means that tens of thousands of people will not be able to use them. This means a vital tool, at our disposal to limit the spread of covid, will go unused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a strong argument to make antigen tests free, particularly for low-income and fixed-income households, while we try to suppress this latest wave of covid. Instead, the government has opted to deny these families even a paltry subsidy of these tests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the context of the tens of billions that has already been spent by the government in its covid response, this is a decision that makes no sense on either public health or financial grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>29 November, 2021<\/p>\n<p>Ends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a decision that makes no sense on either public health or financial grounds The decision of the government to scrap a subsidy scheme for antigen tests is a serious dereliction of duty, according to Social Democrats Health Spokesperson R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall. \u201cIt beggars belief that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly would announce a U-turn of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7,264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-press-release","category-roisin-shortall"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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