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LAST UPDATE | 21 Dec 2021
AN INCREASED DEMAND for PCR testing is putting pressure on services, with some users of the HSE portal reporting that it crashed as they attempted to book a test.
The HSE has said it has capacity for about 225,000 PCR tests this week, with private operators supplementing state-run testing centres.
Capacity for testing has increased from 100,000 earlier this year, with HSE CEO Paul Reid saying it will “reach 250,000 by the end of the year”.
That capacity is being stretched ahead of Christmas and the dominance of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said people should expect a record number of cases in the coming days.
Self-referral test booking is done through the HSE’s portal, with people eligible for a test if they have symptoms or have had a positive antigen test.
Booking slots are grouped on a county-by-county basis and are made available 24 hours in advance.
The demand for testing has made tests difficult to book in some areas, with some users telling The Journal that they received an error message as they attempted to book a slot.
The HSE has said that there was an issue earlier today with the booking system which “was resolved quickly”.
In response to previous queries about testing capacity, the HSE said it monitors demand “on a continuous basis” and works to further increase capacity if required.
The HSE has put in place additional measures over the last number of weeks to increase the level of Covid-19 testing available across our communities. This has included opening additional pop-up testing centres with the support of the National Ambulance Service and the Defence Forces, the recruitment of additional swabbing staff, and engaging private testing providers to provide testing centres on behalf of the HSE.
The agency added: “We are continuously recruiting into our community testing service, and across the whole process there are almost 2,000 people employed”.
Speaking to The Journal, David Rock of private testing provider RocDoc said it is providing about 1,500 tests a week in Dublin and about 700 in Cork and Shannon for the HSE.
Rock says that RocDoc’s testing centres are currently “extremely busy” and that the company has, for example, “ten times more staff” on St. Stephen’s Day than normal.
The company is only closed on Christmas Day to give staff a day off.
“We’re absolutely inundated and the problem is people have left it so late to book as well. For this short period of time, there’s only what two three weeks where the testing numbers are quite high. It’s very hard to employ staff just for three weeks of the year, it’s similar to shops on Black Friday, you never have an enough no matter how much you put on,” Rock says.
It’s frightening that guys like him are given the reigns of power
@Martin Brennan: all based on the broken promise of reopening Stepaside Garda station.
@Martin Brennan: what is the problem with the proposals?
@Daniel Wilson: You obviously dont have a licence to lose or you cant/dont drive very often or else you would know how stupid your comment is.
He really is a simple individual
No vote here!
We’ve had strikes at dublin bus, iarnrod eireann and bus eireann. Ross no where to seen. Huge traffic problems in all our major cities due to lack of forward planning and investment in public transport infrastructure. Ross nowhere to be seen. Massive deterioration in our roads in rural ireland. Ross definately nowhere to be seen. He obsesses with penalty points as its easy to tackle and will have no impact on his mates in d4 anyway. Without a doubt the worst transport minister we’ve ever had and we’ve had some absolute tulips!
Niall McNamara:
I Fully agree with your comments
@Niall McNamara: And chronic over crowding on the luas every day. Where was he? Tapping on with a big smile at 11 am.
A dopey Independent with a bit of power is a dangerous thing
Thank God he didn’t lose the run of himself when he got the auld bit of power.
Money spinner
I betcha ross hasnt a car and uses bus and dart to get around….from leafy south county dublin
@Cal-Dog: gobsh!te probably has his own driver
Ah Mr Ross who I had to get out of my car and tell him he was too far from the traffic lights for the sensors to work while huge tailback behind him, he would have noticed if he wasn’t the glued to his phone for 10 mins surely points for that
More of the same bulls%!t. Speed limits are wrong. Fine big roads with 60k limits on then. Small back roads with 100k limit. And where do the speed checks be conducted? Limits need to be changed and the dangerous roads need to the tackled!
@Billy Walsh: Speed limits are crazy…….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cndq4yuHP1c
He won’t be going for re-election so he doesn’t have to worry what people think
@Martin Sinnott: really? I didn’t know that. It kind of spoils the next election for me because I was hoping to see him lose his seat. A loudmouth in opposition but like a load of the independents just a clown in government
He doesn’t really seem to have a grasp on reality when it comes to life in Ireland,
But fair play to him he does terrific work sorting out the problems of places like North Korea and The Middle East.
If this was about preventative measures to prevent speeding and deaths there would be signs saying enforcement in place today and notified over the airwaves like most modern countries. In Ireland it is entrapment hiding and in places where it is like shooting fish in a barrel . There is no consideration of road conditions, weather it is just a number equals fine and points . I have never been caught speeding but I do speed frequently when safe to do so .
There should be no penalty for the first 10km over! Has the minister ever been behind the wheel?
@Mike Keane: New Zealand have that and I think Germany where a letter is sent to you informing you that you were observed travelling at such a speed around 10km over the limit, then 15km is a fine then 20km over a bigger fine and points and so on, just common since road traffic laws.
And the RSA will bring out some absolute bull statistic to legitimise this, like the one that 11 % of accidents involving someone over the limit takes place between 7 and 11 in the morning (16% of 24 hours but probably 25+ % of traffic), that actually makes it statistically safer at those times to drive, why has no one call out RSA on bull ??
I’m in agreement with the principal of graduated penalties but these seem very stiff. But I also think the fines should be linked with your income. Someone on minimum wage could really struggling with an 80 euro fine so it’s like a double whammy. So who every gets caught should feel the same struggle nomatter what there income.
@Mark Sheridan: the entire point of penalty points so… can’t just buy your way though speeding. IMHO, it’s ridiculous to even bring money into it.
Never any stats on accidents due to poor road maintenance, road layouts, poor signage, etc .I will be getting a yellow vest if this gobsh.te tries to bring this any further, totally unrealistic margins considering a car can be 5 km per hour off and their test equipment will also have a margin of error.
He often spoke about a poor government when he sat opposite them. Boy how he changed his tune when he got on the gravy train.
What the minister is proposing is far too harsh. Spain has graduated speed limits which seem fair.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VcObVkswCis/WY34dGksU9I/AAAAAAABVuE/md6Sy-VuXyYCsHyA656GVmPthxN_InlSwCLcBGAs/s1600/Speed%2Blimit%2Bin%2BSpain%252C%2B2017.jpg
@Allen Nicholson: Very reasonable.
Graduated penalties for speeding are reasonable enough and common enough elsewhere.
@Reg:
agreed but not the version Ross came up with, under 10 kph over the limit should be up to the Garda involved, and the suggestion of points for not having your license on you was ridiculous
@Reg: Now we know who votes for this ejit.
@Reg: Can you give an example of a government proposal that you DIDN’T cheerlead?
He has to get fired. This is becoming unbearable. They are doing business here rather than prevention.
I drive about 1000km a week as part of my job. No points. But being human I can make mistakes, given the amount of time on the road, the chances are higher. Point being vs the normal commuter I have a far greater chance of losing my licence / job because of Mr Ross’s proposal after 2 to three speeding fines. And the speed limits are not sensibly set in rural areas.
Jesus, you can’t have a smoke, a drink, or drive fast in peace any more, because of this cycling buffoon
And we thought Richy Ryan was a rollox, Shane Ross minister for fines.
Waster
Just reading an article in the Independent there about GoSafe claims to catch one speeder per hour and average 72,000 hours annually operation, this was 2012 data so not sure how much it has changed but with an €80 fine, that’s over €112 million per year collected. How much of this goes back to the state and invested in improving road conditions and not wasted in extortionate advertising campaigns, and on pointless “studies”. The roads, tbf are being invested this year more than any I can recall in the last decade locally but still need much more improvements and maintenance. Drivers need to cop on and put their phones away, slow down in urban areas, indicate BEFORE turning/changing lanes and service their cars (headlights working and balanced and tires) and an increased Gardai presence.
@Derek: well said,terrible state of vehicles and drivers on our roads today,enforcement would be a far better idea,with big fines.
@Cal-Dog probaly a state car and a chauffeur .
BYE BYE LORD ROSS
Nothing new here, my move along…
Why are the fines so low? If you can’t afford the fine, here’s a simple way to avoid it, don’t put people’s lives in danger by speeding. The problem is the fines don’t come close to the cost of enforcement. Still can’t help yourself to keep under the speed limit? Refinance the car. Why should us taxpayers foot the bill for the overhead costs of fining criminals? Stick a zero on the end of each fine.
@Oisín O’Connor: I guess you don’t drive..
@ED: bad guess.
@Oisín O’Connor: I guess if there was fines for driving below the speed limit holding up traffic, you’re one one of the ones likely to rack up points fairly quickly.
@Bat Daly: aren’t we meant to drive below the speed limit? Thought that was the whole point of the limit. I suppose “holding up traffic” is worthy of more of your attention than risking life and limb of everyone a driver comes across.
This is nothing short of a Donkey, think his mouth is as big as One. He does not need a Car, or is he possibly driven everywhere. Sick of his Shit every day.
Won’t vote Shane Ross out
This man is an ape
Shane Ross how much do you get paid a hour?
Who voted this gob—– in
He’s loseing the plot nothing but a arsehole
The reason the have to be severe is that there is so little enforcement.. I reckon average speed in some of the 30kph zones
I am sure now that the increased fines and guaranteed convictions will incite the guards to actually go out and enforce these limits..
Particularly the 30kph ones, it is ridiculous that motorists speed in these short 30kph stretches from one junction to the next..
Maybe he makes others look good
And his English twang he thinks he’s hierarchy
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