The only Member in this Chamber who has created a false binary choice about antigen testing is the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. On the radio yesterday, he said that the reason we cannot have free antigen tests in this country is that would be the cost of a nurse. That was a binary choice that the Government created. Some 637,000 people in this country are living in poverty. Every Christmas, they are fearful of their spending because it is cut close to the bone. Now the Minister is telling them that the Government has not got a subsidised scheme for antigen testing and he is creating false binaries. Today we find out, although the Minister, Deputy Ryan, may deny it, that Members will be getting antigen tests for free. That is ludicrous-----

That is completely untrue.

It is not untrue.

It is completely untrue.

Do you have the scheme?

If you are going to come in here and make statements or rush out to the media and make statements, please get your facts straight.

Who are you accusing of rushing out to the media?

Please get your facts straight.

Retract that statement.

Please get your facts straight.

Tell me about the scheme by which Members can pay for their antigen tests or retract that statement.

Tell you about the scheme?

Tell me about how I pay for an antigen test. What is the scheme?

You are telling people something that is completely incorrect.

This is what was conveyed from the Business Committee.

Are they? Right.

Yes. Am I rushing out to talk to the media?

Go on. Carry on.

Are you going to retract that statement?

I certainly am not.

When am I rushing out to talk to the media?

Deputy, we are not fools.

Remember that. When you are asking other people to retract a statement, remember that false equivalence you made there.

People are living in poverty in this country. It is a pathetic excuse that we cannot have free antigen testing for everybody in society for the excuse that was given by the Minister for Health yesterday. People are cut to the bone. They cannot be expected to pay for antigen testing. Imagine being a carer in a one-parent family in this country. We need free antigen testing because it keeps everybody safe. Until I see the scheme, I will not retract the statement that Members are getting antigen tests for free. We are certainly getting them before schools are getting them. It is pathetic.

My understanding is 500,000 antigen tests have been distributed across a range different sectors, which have been targeted because those sectors are at the greatest risk, including the likes of nursing homes-----

There has to be one for every person living in poverty.

Agreed. We have been involved in opposition initially and then in government. I do not think I have ever heard throughout this whole process someone argue that the economics of us addressing Covid-19 is the biggest constraint. There has been no lack of willingness to provide funding either for the health system, or for the economic and social supports that need to be put in place. Some tens of billions-----

That is not true.

The Minister without interruption.

The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, made the point that----

The Minister without interruption.

This is very serious. People cannot afford-----

The Minister without interruption.

I was interrupted. You did not mind interrupting me------

Please.

Regarding the exact mechanisms of delivering antigen tests, the main concern has been a health issue, because of the risks that would come with false negatives, and a range of other issues with regard to that. I think they are being overcome. The exact mechanism for delivery and the exact cost is something that the Minister for Health has to decide upon-----

People cannot afford them. They need free antigen testing.

I thank the Minister and his time is up.

He has to decide what some of that money could be used in other elements-----

Time is up.

To depict it as being restrictive in terms of funding action on Covid-19, that has not been the case.