Indian variant puts brakes on 'travel bubble' with UK
Stephen Donnelly said the rising number of cases of the Indian variant of Covid-19 means that such a bubble — a free travel arrangement between Ireland and the UK — would not be "sensible" at the current time. File picture
The health minister has ruled out introducing a "travel bubble" with the UK in the near future.
Stephen Donnelly said the rising number of cases of the Indian variant of Covid-19 means that such a bubble — a free travel arrangement between Ireland and the UK — would not be "sensible" at the current time.
From Monday, people in the North will no longer be discouraged from travelling to England, Scotland and Wales, but Mr Donnelly said that public health advice here did not support a similar move.
"A common travel area across the two islands is something we would like to see happen and would be very much in line with the digital green certificate," he said.
"Moving quicker than that is something that we would need to look at very carefully. The big concern we have is the Indian variant. The latest clinical data we have is that it's around 50% more transmissible than the UK variant, so it's highly contagious.
He said that Ireland is "working closely" with the UK on monitoring the variant.
Meanwhile, a roadmap for the return of international travel could be ready next week, Tourism Minister Catherine Martin has said.
The issue is to be discussed at Cabinet next week and Ms Martin said a clear plan will be crucial for the recovery of Ireland's tourism sector.
She said: "I hope next week the Government will be providing a road map for international tourism. That is really, really critical for tourism to recover.
"It accounts for 75% of tourism revenue. I'm acutely aware of that as Minister for Tourism and also of the supports that are needed, so there's no cliff-edge for the industry.
"We will be giving consideration to everything in the next week. And giving that road map to the industry and see what can happen with international tourism.
"In the context of the EU Digital Green Cert, we have hope there and we will be implementing that as soon as is possible."
The Digital Green Certificate is designed to facilitate the return of travel between EU member states.
It will be available to people who have been vaccinated, have obtained a negative test for Covid-19, or have had the virus and recovered.
Agreement in principle was reached among member states at the European Parliament on Thursday.
It is expected to come into effect from the start of July, with a phasing-in period of six weeks for member states that need additional time to implement it.
