Simon Harris has called for the ramping up of testing given an “awful lot of money” has been pumped into the service.
The Higher Education Minister was speaking after launching a €3,000 financial incentive for employers to take on apprentices.
Mr Harris said testing has fallen and we have the capacity to test thousands so we should use it.
He said: “We built up massive testing capacity in this country in recent months, we have spent an awful lot of money on putting in really good testing infrastructure.
“We need to use that testing infrastructure, we need to test, test, test, back to first principles. “That’s what the World Health Organization said: ‘test, test, test.’
“I do note that we were testing in and around 9,000 people a day and getting results back and that number did fall over the last while to about 3,000, 4,000 a day.
“We have capacity, let’s use that capacity, because it’s only by testing, testing quickly, testing anyone with a symptom or putting a programme in place for testing groups that may be particularly at risk.”
Under the new programme announced by Mr Harris any employer who hires an apprentice and keeps them on for a year can avail of the full €3,000 grant.
Mr Harris said the “snobby attitude” towards apprentices needs to be dropped.
He said: “Over 18,000 people are currently undertaking an apprenticeship across a wide range of occupations from electrical, construction and engineering roles to healthcare, information technology and financial services.
“Our ambition is to see that number grow and the Government provided funding for this new incentive for employers in the July stimulus package.”
