The Green List has been reduced to just four countries

STARTING MONDAY, the government’s Green List of air travel will be reduced from seven countries to four.

Joining Cyprus, Finland and Latvia on the list is new entrant Liechtenstein. For the first three, quarantine, testing or other restrictions apply for arrivals from other countries, including Ireland.

Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Iceland will be removed from the Green List.

Under the Green List Travel Advisory, individuals can travel to Non-Essential Travel List countries and return to Ireland without restricting their movements.

However, the Level 3 restrictions currently in place in Dublin apply to both domestic and foreign travel, which means that people in the capital will not be able to travel abroad except for essential reasons. Donegal people will also be encouraged not to travel abroad when entering Level Three.

The advice for people in other counties is to avoid non-essential travel abroad, other than Green List countries, where the advice is to take the usual precautions.

Therefore, until Sunday night, people will still be able to return to Ireland from Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Iceland and will not be asked to restrict their movements when returning.

However, starting Monday morning, they will have to restrict their movements if they return from these countries.

On September 15, the government agreed that the Green List will be updated weekly.

The new system will include EU / EEA countries with an incidence rate of less than 25 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in the last fortnight included in the Green List.

This system will remain in force until the EU’s new “traffic light” system comes into effect. This is expected to happen next month.

Airlines have repeatedly criticized the government for its approach to air travel during the pandemic.

Updates to the Green List are made every Thursday to take effect the following Monday.