Hotel quarantine law may not be in place until end of February

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the Government would like to have hotel quarantining in place for people arriving from a country where there is a variant, such as Brazil and South Africa, and for those who arrive in the country without a negative PCR test by mid-February. File photo

Legislation requiring people from "high-risk" countries to quarantine in hotels will be ready in the coming weeks, but Government sources say it may be closer to the end of February before it is operational.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly today said that the necessary legislation was “quite close to being ready to go” and his department and the Attorney General had worked quickly to pull together the legislation. Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Thursday said that the Government would like to have hotel quarantining in place for people arriving from a country where there is a variant, such as Brazil and South Africa, and for those who arrive in the country without a negative PCR test by mid-February.