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Travelers coming from the United States and EU member states will not yet be subject to mandatory hotel quarantine.
The Health Department has announced the extension of the mandatory hotel quarantine to 26 countries and states instead of the 43 that had been raised earlier in the week.
A major dispute had broken out within the government over the Health Department’s plans to extend mandatory hotel quarantine to an additional 43 countries, including the US, France and Germany.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly met Thursday afternoon to discuss the plan, including concerns about the right of EU citizens to travel freely and concerns about the ability of the system to deal with such numbers. The Attorney General has written to Mr. Donnelly expressing legal concerns.
It is understood that Mr. Coveney rejected the extension of the mandatory quarantine to those countries. Sources have said that Donnelly is still in favor of applying the hotel quarantine regime to these countries or any country of great concern.
In a statement Thursday night, the Health Department said councils on the remaining countries and states, including the EU and the US, “will be considered before the next government meeting.”
“Ongoing considerations will also address several issues, including operational capacity that may be required to accommodate additional travelers and issues related to the Common Travel Area and the need to consult with our EU partners. More attention will also be paid to ways in which measures regarding those traveling from non-designated states could be further strengthened. “
The countries to be added to the list of high-risk countries are:
- the Republic of Albania;
- the Principality of Andorra;
- Aruba;
- the Kingdom of Bahrain;
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba;
- the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia;
- the State of Israel;
- the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan;
- the Republic of Kosovo;
- the State of Kuwait;
- the Republic of Lebanon;
- the Republic of San Marino;
- the Republic of Moldova;
- the Principality of Monaco;
- Montenegro;
- the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
- the Republic of North Macedonia;
- the Sultanate of Oman;
- the State of Palestine;
- the Republic of the Philippines;
- the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
- the State of Qatar;
- St. Lucia;
- the Republic of Serbia;
- the Federal Republic of Somalia;
- the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands.
The Republic of Mauritius will be removed from the list.
Travelers from these states will need to reserve accommodation for the mandatory hotel quarantine if they intend to arrive in Ireland after 4am on Tuesday, April 6.
On Thursday morning, Coveney said the mandatory hotel quarantine system should not apply to countries where large numbers of Irish people live.
The minister has also raised serious questions about the ability of the mandatory hotel quarantine scheme to accommodate thousands of people in hotel rooms if 43 additional countries are added to the list.
Mr. Coveney also questioned the legal basis for adding so many new countries, especially EU countries, where the right to travel existed.
The Attorney General also wrote to Mr Donnelly expressing concern over the plans that have left other ministers and the European Union “furious”, high-level sources said.
“There are many concerns about our ability to (increase the number of countries) in the short term. We have to think about the implications of that, ”Mr. Coveney said in an interview with Highland Radio.
“Take France, for example. There are 20,000 Irish in France. Many return home after the summer, many are students ”.
Hotel capacity
Speaking Thursday afternoon, Donnelly insisted that hotel capacity could be increased if necessary once additional countries are added to the mandatory hotel quarantine list.
Donnelly said the contract with the operator, Tifco Hotel Group, “allows for expansion on relatively short notice.”
He also noted the expectation that the number of passengers traveling from Category 2 countries will decrease as they are added to the list.
Donnelly said there had been challenges in estimating capacity, but pointed to the UK, where the number of incoming passengers from some countries fell by as much as 80% or 90%.
He said the capacity available for use today is 650 rooms, but if there is a significant increase in inbound travel, Tifco could bring more hotels online.
Donnelly did not rule out the possibility that another operator could come on board if necessary saying “we can always look at that.”
On legal issues with the addition of more countries, including EU member states to the list, Mr Donnelly said: “Obviously, we always have to make sure that what we are doing is in line with the legislation and that the legislation is designed to be in line with EU law. “
He said: “We are just making sure, obviously, in consultation with the Attorney General and his office, that everything that is done is legally sound because mandatory quarantine in the hotel is not an easy thing.”
Erasmus students
At the Dáil, concerns were raised that hundreds of Irish students taking Erasmus courses across Europe could face a mandatory quarantine in hotels upon their return if EU countries are added to the list of designated countries.
Independent TD Joan Collins said students who did not have the ability to pay 1,800 euros for two weeks of quarantine faced their studies not being recognized if they returned home before completing their courses.
Ms. Collins said that Mr. Donnelly’s statement that France and other EU countries can be added to the list of Category 2 countries “has created absolutely tremendous anxiety” among students “because they are supposed to stay in their host countries until April 30 courses ”.
She asked him to guarantee that if countries like France, Germany and Italy are added to the mandatory quarantine list “the state or its universities will pay for it.
“These students cannot afford to pay 1,800 euros for quarantine in a hotel.”
Donnelly said that “if there is a real and significant problem regarding their ability to pay, they should contact the relevant Irish embassy in the first instance.”
He stressed that the mandatory quarantine was “very serious” and one of the measures to protect against variants.
“The epidemiological situation throughout Europe is very worrying.” France had just introduced major blockade measures and “other countries are doing the same,” Donnelly said.
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