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TRANSPORTATION MINISTER EAMON Ryan has said that the current Green List of travel “is not working” but that it “could take a while” for the travel policy to be implemented across the EU.
Ryan spoke at the Oireachtas Transportation Committee this morning, and the CEOs of Ryanair and Aer Lingus also gave testimony.
Currently, Ireland’s Green List has only four countries, and Ryan says it is no longer fit for purpose.
“The current Green List is not working because almost all the countries that we are connected to are outside the parameters of what would apply,” he said.
Even the much higher parameters that we applied on September 8, which were a multiple of those that were applied in early July, are no longer valid. So it is not working and we have to change our focus.
An EU-level policy, to be agreed by the EU Council of Ministers on October 13, will use a traffic light system to mark countries as green, orange or red, depending on their rate of Covid-19 cases. .
This plan is expected to use two metrics to judge whether people can travel to a specific county, incidence rates of 14 days per 100,000 people, and test positivity rates.
According to the proposals, an EU country would only be removed from the EU safe travel list if a country’s incidence rate was above 50 per 100,000 and the positivity rate was above 3%.
If the traffic light system were introduced today, 16 different countries would be on the list.
However, speaking today, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that while the plan may be agreed to next week, it may take “some time” for countries to adopt it.
It is essential that we first get agreement at EU level on the comprehensive approach. And within that context, that we reach an agreement with the health authorities here and with other governments, including the UK government, which is a key player due to the amount of passengers we have traveling to and from the UK on ferries. as well as in air.
“There will be a period of time that it will take us to implement compliance measures, we have to be clear about that,” Ryan said.
The 16 countries that would make up the EU travel list.
(Click here to see a larger image)
Following the minister’s comments, the CEOs of Aer Lingus and Ryanair encouraged the government not to waste time adopting the EU approach.
“I would encourage the committee to move quickly to adopt this framework,” said Aer Lingus CEO Seán Doyle.
And I must say that I am concerned that we will not get to October 13 or close to full adoption, based on the comment we just heard in the previous session.
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson made similar comments: “The government must do two things, adopt the traffic light system and defend it next week at the October 13 meeting. And if they can’t come to an agreement, they should implement the system today. “
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Airports and tests
DAA executive director Dalton Philips also spoke in committee in favor of the EU proposals, adding that they should be accompanied by test protocols for high-risk ‘red list’ regions, “ruling out restrictions on travel and rough quarantines, “said Philips.
“The proposed framework has been supported by the European Center for Disease Control and by airlines, airports, member associations and tourism bodies throughout Europe,” he said.
To facilitate adoption of the EU framework, DAA has conducted significant research and engaged with the market and government agencies. We have developed proposals to facilitate the mobilization of PCR testing prior to departure at Dublin / Cork airports in mid-October with the capacity to perform up to 15,000 tests per day as business recovers, without impacting the healthcare system public.
Speaking about testing, Department of Transportation Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton said PCR testing is the “gold standard” but that the aviation industry is looking for something “faster.”
He noted that the aviation industry has lobbied for antigen testing, but that WHO does not deem it “appropriate.”
The issue was also raised in the Dáil today by the co-leader of the Social Democrats Róisín Shortall TD, who said that Ireland “would not be prepared at all” to adopt the traffic light system due to problems related to testing at airports.
“We would be totally unprepared in terms of European standards or requirements for testing at our airports, or for any kind of quarantine,” he said.
“At the moment, there is no system. There are no plans in place to fix this problem. And that’s why I say that we need a strategy to minimize the virus. Unless you have some kind of protection in ports and airports, you are really wasting your time. “
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