Questions raised over legality of mandatory quarantine for EU citizens

 Defence Forces personnel awaiting flights to escort passengers to their mandatory hotel quarantine at Dublin Airpor. Picture: Colin Keegan

A proposal to more than double the number of countries on Ireland's mandatory quarantine list is in doubt after the Attorney General raised concerns with the Health Minister.

It is understood that Paul Gallagher wrote to Stephen Donnelly on foot of a recommendation from the Travel Expert Advisory Group, which said the current list of 33 countries be more than doubled, with 43 countries added to the list. 

Mr Gallagher is believed to have raised concerns over the legality of requiring EU citizens to pay for the 12-day quarantine.

He is also understood to have questioned whether Irish citizens living in the EU could legally be required to pay for re-entry to the country. 

Some government sources, however, said that they were "confused" by the advice, given that Austria is currently on the list and said that no previous concerns have been raised with the legislation underpinning the system.

Others said that the proposal to add countries where larger numbers of Irish people live such as the US, France and Germany to the list had changed thinking in government.

No decision on the list has yet been made.

Mr Donnelly sent the advice to Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney yesterday, but a spokesperson for Mr Coveney said yesterday: “Any addition to the list of category 2 countries requires consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs by the Minister for Health. That has not happened to date.”

Cabinet sources said Taoiseach Micheál Martin "cut the idea off at the pass" at Tuesday's meeting, adding Mr Coveney and some within his department were "furious" the recommendation had made it to the media before any consultation.

In government, the idea of adding the likes of the US to the list is seen as "a total non-starter" even though arrivals from all countries are legally required to quarantine at home for 14 days.

A spokesperson for Mr Donnelly this evening declined to comment on the letter.

It is understood that the decision on which countries to add to the Category 2 list, if any, will be made in the coming days.