Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak for ten minutes. I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for all of the work that has been done in recent months. I dealt with a number of cases where the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was of great assistance, in particular, involving people who were in Nepal, which is not the easiest place to get in or out of. As a result of co-operation between the Department and the European Commission, people were able to travel back to their homes.

What arrangement is in place for people who take a flight or ferry into Northern Ireland intending to travel to the South? Do they have to fill out forms in Northern Ireland? If so, is the information conveyed to the authorities in the South? Are there ongoing discussions on that issue, particularly with regard to people who decide to fly from South America to London and on to Northern Ireland, intending to spend a few days before travelling south?

We have peak hours for public transport because people need to travel to start work at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. That may change completely if companies decide to introduce shifts of, say, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Have discussions taken place with the public transport authorities on changing schedules to provide a higher level of transport when workplaces start to open up again? What discussions have taken place with employers and public transport companies?

What arrangements are in place to meet the requirements of pilots and airline staff who travel in and out of Ireland?

What process have we put in place for them when they come in here, in particular, if they have been in America or other places where there is a high incidence of Covid-19? I am wondering if there have there been any discussions with the employers about what they are doing to facilitate their staff.