Stephen Donnelly: Arguments for zero-Covid need to be taken seriously

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly: 'I have listened to the zero-Covid arguments.' Picture: Brian Lawless

The arguments in favour of a zero-Covid policy need to be taken seriously, according to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

He said he still hasn't heard solutions to some of the stumbling blocks in the way of such an approach.

Mr Donnelly said “there is no monopoly on wisdom” on the issue and that he has heard all the arguments in favour of it.

He said one of the biggest stumbling blocks remains unimpeded travel between the North and Republic, and how this could be addressed.

“I have yet to see a realistic answer,” he said, adding that what the Cabinet agreed last Tuesday will go some way to addressing concerns around the border. 

These include mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine, an increase in Garda checkpoints along the border, and sharing of passenger location information.

“However, it is simply a reality that Northern Ireland is a different jurisdiction to the Republic,” he said.

Mr Donnelly was speaking as talks resumed between the Irish Medical Organisation and the Department of Health over specialists in public health medicine contracts.

Yesterday, the Irish Examiner reported on how a poorly resourced regional public health system could undermine any move to a zero-Covid approach.

Mr Donnelly said public health doctors have done “a bloody good job” at constantly "stepping up" during the pandemic and that what the country’s 90 or so full- and part-time specialists in public health medicine are doing is essential.

He said a properly funded regional public health system would “absolutely” help with tackling virus outbreaks in general.

On growing calls for zero-Covid, he said: “I have listened to the zero-Covid arguments. I have met experts advocating for zero-Covid. There are ideas there that need to be taken seriously.

“If you were to line up a policy platform for zero-Covid and compare it to what has been agreed in Cabinet in terms of the level 5 measures ongoing to suppress the virus, you will see a lot of commonalities.”

On the border issue, Mr Donnelly said: “I have yet to see a realistic answer to [the question] how do you address the fact that there is unimpeded travel North to South on the island and unimpeded travel between Northern Ireland and Britain? 

"And, therefore, a route for unimpeded travel between Britain and the Republic.”

He said: “Cabinet decided we are deploying several measures, including border controls. The requirements for mandatory quarantine will apply to those coming into the Republic from the North. That is new. And they are being put on a statutory footing, which is new.

“So that will deal with some of it. We’re going to work closely with our colleagues in Northern Ireland on sharing passenger locator information, which will help with a single island approach.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the regulatory framework around the restrictions being brought in will be ready in a matter of days.

However, some of the initiatives will require new legislation and that could take weeks.

And while the Government may see the merits of increased Garda patrols along the border, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has its reservations.

The GRA has called on the Government to explain how the force is going to be expected to police 300 border crossing between the North and South "without a clear plan".