Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is brilliant. I will conclude with some observations. All of the witnesses here today are working incredibly long hours. I hope they do not take this the wrong way but they all look quite tired and will need a break at Christmas. I expect the hours they are working are incredible. On behalf of the committee, I want to acknowledge the phenomenal work they are doing. We are living in very fluid, changing times. We want to get the message out to people who are coming home at Christmas about what is involved.

It is quite clear the Department of Foreign Affairs has very good information lines through which people can make contact. People must complete a passenger locator form. It is pretty straightforward for people who have been vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid-19. They must provide a negative PCR or antigen test no more than 48 hours prior to arrival. Those who are unvaccinated must provide a negative PCR test no more than 72 hours before arrival. The issue when people arrive is to ensure they can get through the airport as quickly as possible.

I ask the witnesses to look at the level of checking being done to make certain it is robust. We know it is only three days in. On a human level, we see situations arising where families are coming back during Covid. I know Mr. Towey had to make that hard comment, but can anything can be done where there are teenagers over 11 years old who come down unexpectedly with Covid? Can that be examined? That might not be possible, but on a human level we must ensure they can come back with their families, whether that requires isolation or whatever. Hopefully, this measure will not last for too long and the Omicron variant will be found to be not as infectious as once thought. To summarise, we wanted this meeting to provide information for the general public.

We thank the witnesses for taking the time out of their exceptionally busy schedules for today's meeting. We hope they get a break over Christmas and thank them for their work. I thank Mr. Towey, Mr. O'Flaherty, Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Comiskey, Ms Ní Fhallúin, Ms Buckley and Ms Leahy for attending this meeting and engaging with us in such a thorough fashion. Obviously, they will come back to us with further information. We hope this will not be in place for long. If it is there in the new year, the committee may have to revisit it.

In addition to thanking the witnesses as public officials, I thank the staff and secretariat of the committee - Padraig Grant, Anthony Larkin, Ciara Kilbane, Stephanie Bollard and Tracey O'Driscoll - who is deputising today - for their great work. I wish you all a happy Christmas.