Delays to quarantine plans are 'potentially calamitous', says Alan Kelly

Mandatory 14-day quarantine in hotels will be introduced for arrivals from 'high-risk areas' such as South America and South Africa and those arriving without a negative PCR test from other countries. Picture: Brian Lawless

Labour party leader Alan Kelly has described the Government’s mandatory quarantine plan as “crazy” and “potentially calamitous”.

New legislation on hotel quarantine will be needed following the Government's restrictions on travel, the Cabinet has been told.

The government has said it will 'take time' to introduce the new laws before the quarantine restrictions can come into force.

Mr Kelly said he could not comprehend why it would take more time to implement the quarantine plan given that Government officials from a number of departments had been tasked last May to look into the issue.

“Why was primary legislation not drafted and why were the logistics not completed before now?” he said on RTE's Morning Ireland.

Covid-19 variants were “on tour” and a threat to the country so there needed to be a full quarantine programme in place, added Mr Kelly.

The people of the country had been “locked up” for months and could not continue like this. Measures were needed to ensure that people coming into the country did not bring the virus with them, he said.

It was obvious that the gardaí needed to have some role in the plan, but private security firms could be involved as had been done in other countries, he said, with the gardaí in an “over-seeing” capacity.

“All of this should have been done before now.” 

In response, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney called on Opposition parties to support the primary legislation required to implement the mandatory quarantine plans.

“If the Dáil cooperates then this can be done quickly,” he said.

Mr Coveney defended the delay in implementing the quarantine plan pointing out that it had been a political decision that had taken place in the last few weeks and for which primary legislation was required.

While international travel was down 97%  on the same time last year, the Government recognised the need to add further restrictions involving mandatory quarantine, some of which would have to happen in State-run facilities, he said.

Mandatory 14-day quarantine in hotels will be introduced for arrivals from "high-risk areas" such as South America and South Africa and those arriving without a negative PCR test from other countries.

Travellers who arrive from other countries now have to quarantine at home and will have to pay for their day one arrival test (if they did not present with one) and a further day five test is optional if they want to exit home quarantine early. Those arriving from countries with Covid-19 variants cannot exit quarantine early.

The Government said work has already begun on the mandatory system of quarantine in a State-provided facility.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said Citywest has already been identified as one of the sites for hotel quarantining, but it will take some time before it can be introduced.

While the Government "need to get this done as quickly as possible," Ms McEntee said primary legislation will be required, which "takes time".

She said gardaí would not be present at quarantine hotels and instead private security firms would be employed.

But she said that gardaí will this week be provided with new powers to call to people's homes to ensure those arriving into the country are restricting their movements.

The State must also ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of quarantine travellers for the duration of their quarantine.

This will include the need to "ensure appropriate arrangements in relation to such matters as healthcare, nutrition, exercise and security, and permission to leave the facility temporarily or altogether before the completion of the statutory period of quarantine, which must be limited to the most exceptional circumstances," the Cabinet memo read.

The Department of Health will progress the majority of the policy work. However, other "key departments" and the Attorney General's team will be consulted, and "a whole-of-Government approach will be needed," according to a Government spokesman.

The mandatory home quarantine legislation will be ready within days, while it is hoped the mandatory hotel quarantine legislation will be ready "within weeks".

Regulations have also been enacted to increase the fixed penalty for breach of international travel restrictions to €500. If those people are returning from holiday, they could face a fine at each end of their trip if they persevere with travel despite being detected and are then fined again on their way home.

The Government has not yet decided whether Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to Washington DC for the annual St Patrick's Day trip. Picture: Julien Behal

If someone from Northern Ireland travels south without reasonable cause, they can be turned back and fined €100, and/or referred for prosecution. This already applies for anyone in the Republic who is breaching travel restrictions without reasonable cause.

In relation to international travel, those who are stopped while travelling to a Northern Ireland airport will be fined €500, in the same way they would be fined when travelling to an airport/ port in the Republic for a non-essential purpose.

The Health Act now provides gardaí with the power to direct people to comply with restrictions.

The Government has not yet decided whether Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to Washington DC for the annual St Patrick's Day trip. However, the trip will go ahead if the Cabinet decides it is safe to do so.