A €9 million fund to provide free antigen tests for college students has been announced by the Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris.
The fund will be accessible to all colleges and will be accompanied by an awareness campaign. Minister Harris said 400,000 students had returned to college campuses because public health advice was followed.
However, he said advice from the Expert Advisory Group on Rapid Testing suggested a transmission risk from multi-generational mixing.
As a consequence, the Minister has created the fund, which colleges can draw down to provide free antigen tests on their premises.