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State Minister Thomas Byrne said the rules will change for those traveling to Ireland from a red area after November 29, but warned that “it is not an open door for travel.”
He said passengers who receive a negative Covid-19 PCR test five days after arriving here will no longer have to restrict their movements.
As part of the European Union’s new traffic light system, countries and regions are now classified as green, orange, or red, based on Covid-19 risk levels.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control will publish a weekly map determined by the 14-day incidence and positivity rates for the disease.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Byrne said that travel is not yet recommended and that the rule change was not a mechanism to open doors, but rather to allow for safe travel whenever possible.
The Minister of State with Responsibility for European Affairs said he does not know how much this will cost, but it is estimated that the private sector will charge between € 150 and € 200 for the test.
He said that HSE resources will not be used for these tests and that travelers will have to bear the cost themselves.
Byrne said a planning exemption will be granted to Dublin Airport, which wants to establish a test center, and other airports, including Cork and Shannon, which have also expressed interest in establishing test centers.
He said these guidelines are advisory and there is no legal basis to enforce them, although the passenger locator form is a legal requirement.
Labor transport spokesman Duncan Smith said that while the imminent start of Covid tests at Dublin Airport was welcome, he has “concerns regarding the cost of these Covid tests.”
If the cost were around 100 to 200 euros per test, he said there would be “many low-paid workers and essential workers abroad who would return for Christmas and who, for economic reasons, could not afford the price of these tests.”
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Mr. Smith said, “I am calling on the government to temporarily subsidize these tests during the December period. We need compliance and personal accountability, but we also demand that these tests be performed and cost cannot be a barrier.”
Aer Lingus, in a statement, said it welcomed further revisions to the testing regime to facilitate the European traffic light system.
It also welcomed the exemption for essential function passengers from the requirement to undergo restricted movement or testing.
“We note that this includes critical occupations, students and people who travel for imperative family or business reasons,” the airline said.
He said that the fact that passengers arriving from the US and Canada are treated in the same way as arrivals from the red regions of the EU is a “positive step” in facilitating an increase in safe international travel.
Carin Bryans, president of the Irish American Chamber of Commerce, said the group “welcomed” the Cabinet’s decision to allow free movement of people traveling from red zones if they test negative for PCR. five days after your arrival.
The measure follows the government’s announcement yesterday of a financing package of 80 million euros for the aviation sector in recognition of the difficult winter season that is coming due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Tomas Ryan of Trinity College’s School of Biochemistry and Immunology said that we are all “paying the price” for ineffective travel detection and that travel has significantly seeded the current COVID situation.
He told RTÉ Today With Claire Byrne that all countries that have succeeded in suppressing or significantly eliminating Covid-19 have done so by properly managing their borders and introducing mandatory quarantine.
Dr. Ryan said testing at airports will improve things, but no country has yet implemented a testing system that is sufficient to eliminate the need for quarantine.
He said that the return of migrants at Christmas “presents enormous risks.” Mandatory quarantine can be strict and unpopular, but it works, he said, adding that ten days of quarantine should be enough.
Meanwhile, the president of Sunway Travel said that the new traffic light system is a step forward for the travel industry that has suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic.
Tanya Airey said her company will continue to allow people to book vacations with a small deposit and that they have until May 31 next year to change their mind.
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