Mixed message from Holohan and HSE on employers receiving worker's Covid-19 results

The Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Executive of the HSE have directly contradicted each other over employers receiving employees coronavirus results.

During the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19, it was revealed that the Data Protection Commissioner had received complaints in some instances of mass testing employees, management had received the employee's results first.

When the news first broke during the morning session of Tuesday's committee, CMO Dr Tony Holohan said the practice would be a "breach of confidentiality, full stop. Employers should not be receiving results for employees”.

In the afternoon session, Paul Reid, Chief Executive of the HSE, was pressed on the matter by Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy, who asked how many employers had been informed of their employees' test results before the employees themselves, and said that public health officials can make a "judgement call" on the issue.

"Our process is overall to inform the individual first," Mr Reid said before he was interrupted by Mr Carthy: "That's not what I asked."

Mr Reid went on: "There is a responsibility on public health officials to get results out early," before adding it’s at the discretion of public health officials whether they inform the employer first and in some instances may be necessary.

"There are exceptional cases where there is discretion and judgement call available for public health officials.

"Ultimately that is not how we want to see this done.

"The vast majority of results are given to the GP and then to the individual

"That's the way we've done it throughout this process, but we're in an exceptional pandemic situation."

Mr Reid could not give a number of how many employers had been informed of their employees status first.

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