Government urged to consider vaccine certs for business travellers   

Ibec said it is also looking at the issues around returning to offices. 

A mass vaccination centre set up as part of the HSE's vaccination rollout. File picture. 

The Government is being urged to join with international efforts to secure vaccine passports that would allow Irish businesses to fly out of the country and for international business travellers to fly into the island. 

Fergal O'Brien, director of policy and public affairs at business group Ibec, said that Ireland could lose out on foreign direct investments and small Irish firms will be hindered in rebuilding international orders compared with other countries, as Britain and US make comparatively swift progress in rolling out vaccines. 

It comes as news emerged that the UK is looking at insisting that its travellers may need to prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter some countries, its Health Minister Matt Hancock said, confirming ministers are in talks with overseas counterparts on the issue.

While Mr Hancock stressed the government isn’t planning to make inoculation a condition of entry to the UK, other nations he didn’t identify are “actively” debating the measure. Officials are looking at how to provide the necessary certification to British travellers who need it, he told Sky News.

Mr O'Brien said that with vaccines, Ibec is looking at the issues around returning to offices and also on international travel. 

The feedback he said was that Ireland was facing a competitive disadvantage if it didn't allow international business travel and favoured the Government working with other governments to agree on common vaccine certificates to allow international business travellers to fly into the island and for Irish business travellers to fly out. The key issue "was not to be left behind" as the skies open up with vaccinated business travellers, Mr O'Brien said.

The UK government appears to be seeking agreement for both business and leisure travellers to travel if they can show they have been vaccinated as its programme races ahead. “We are working with countries around the world on the basis for this and how that vaccine certification can happen in a way that is assured,” UK Health Minister Hancock said. 

For now, governments have mostly relied on infection rates to guide travel policies with other nations, along with measures like quarantines and pre-flight testing to stem the risks.

Industry groups were mostly positive, though they cautioned that relying on vaccine status would create its own set of complications. While carriers back an exemption from other travel curbs for those who have had the jab, vaccinations “shouldn’t be a prerequisite for travel”, according to lobby group Airlines UK.

Virgin Atlantic said it’s encouraged to see the emphasis on creating a road map out of current restrictions, and that discussions are being held at an international level. A common approach is needed within Europe at least, according to the Airport Operators Association. 

Additional reporting Bloomberg