James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming to the meeting today. I acknowledge Mr. Towey for being here. For aviation and the Department of Transport, it has been extraordinarily difficult to deal with these restrictions. I wish to get an understanding from all of the officials on this Covid testing regime that came in. How did this come about? Was it a case that NPHET was in contact with the Department of Transport to bring in these new travel regulations for arrival requirements into Ireland with the advent of the Omicron variant? Would anyone be willing to answer that on behalf of the Department of Transport?