Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My thanks to Dr. Nabarro for giving extra time to us to ask this question. I want to ask a specific question on travel. It follows up on an answer Dr. Nabarro gave earlier. Many people are contacting me about the idea of air bridges, whereby the European Union is trying to open up a common travel area. They are really concerned, worried and, to be honest, confused. They ask whether this idea is commercially driven. They ask why the European Union or the WHO seem to be saying that it is right to bring people from all over Europe together during the holiday season of July and August and then have those people disperse to all the European countries they have come from, even if there is a low rate of infection at present. Is this really a safe decision? Is it being driven primarily by countries which have had very bad Covid-19 outbreaks but which now want to re-stimulate their economies through tourism for economic reasons? Is it actually safe for Irish people to travel to Spain and Italy this summer? Is it safe for them to have a holiday for a week or two and then come back to their home country? If we take out quarantining and introduce air bridges, is that really safe? Is it an economic decision?