Ms Deirdre Ní Fhallúin:

Good afternoon to the committee. I am the consular director at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for international travel. While the Department of Foreign Affairs does not have a role in implementing the new Covid testing rules for incoming travel to Ireland, the Department continues to assist and advise citizens around the world in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our current advice to citizens is that there are risks associated with international travel and that this is likely to remain the case over the coming months. In recent years, the Department has responded to unprecedented requests for assistance and carried out the largest repatriation operations in the history of the State.

The Department’s travel advice pages, which cover 200 countries, are some of the most visited pages on the Department of Foreign Affairs, DFA, website. Every effort is made to ensure the provision of practical assistance and clear advice to the citizen. In this regard, the Department’s travel advice is extremely significant for a range of stakeholders, and significant thought and resources have been put into ensuring clear, accurate and timely advice to help assist and inform citizens. Given the rapidly evolving circumstances in recent years, the importance of close co-operation with our diplomatic missions, the EU and like-minded countries, the advice of relevant organisations and, in particular, co-ordinating closely with the Department of Health and the HSE has been paramount. On a daily basis, the Department ensures the 200 travel advice pages it operates covering all countries in the world are up to date. Timely and up-to-date information serves citizens in ensuring they make informed decisions before travelling and can help ensure citizens avoid getting into difficulty while they are travelling internationally. In the current climate, our general advice to citizens remains that travel restrictions are subject to change at short notice and that all passengers should undertake proper research and carefully consider the necessity for their international travel at this time.

At present, the Department and its embassy network continue to provide consular assistance to Irish citizens impacted by the evolving travel restrictions imposed across the world in response to cases of the new Omicron variant. The Department’s consular teams are dealing with a high volume of calls and emails from citizens concerned about their travel plans or how restrictions will affect loved ones returning to Ireland. To respond to these queries, the Department established a dedicated helpline on 2 December to give immediate advice to citizens. The helpline has taken 1,100 calls, and that number has increased since this briefing was written. We have also responded to more than 500 emails from citizens. We will respond to these requests along with the continued assistance we provide in non-Covid or travel-related consular cases. We will also continue to monitor any restrictions abroad which may impact our citizens.

While the Department of Foreign Affairs has no direct role in the introduction of inward restrictions on travellers arriving in the State, we continue to co-ordinate with relevant Departments regarding the dissemination of information on travel restrictions and the practical assistance to citizens these restrictions may affect. This is most recently notable in the restrictions imposed on scheduled states in southern Africa following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

In southern Africa, our embassy network has responded to hundreds of queries and is in ongoing contact with the remaining citizens and dependants who are attempting to return to Ireland following the imposition of flight bans. The Irish embassy in Pretoria has engaged directly with around 200 citizens and family members who have been attempting to secure flights back to Ireland. Flights are now starting to resume and many of the affected citizens have returned to Ireland.

On 29 November, the Government of Morocco announced a travel ban on all inward and outward flights. The Department moved quickly to establish how many citizens were in Morocco and how the ban would affect them. Following an assessment of the situation, the Department, through our embassy in Rabat, moved quickly to charter a Ryanair aircraft to repatriate stranded citizens. This flight departed from Marrakech on Saturday, 5 December with 156 passengers on board. It included predominantly Irish citizens and residents and a number of citizens from the EU and UK. No other direct repatriation flights from Morocco are planned. Several airlines are operating special flights to European capitals from where onward flights to Ireland can be purchased. Our embassy in Rabat is available to provide advice to any citizens stranded in Morocco.

In 2021, the Department of Foreign Affairs and our mission network continued our mandate in supporting Irish citizens caught up in both major and relatively minor incidents overseas. From the evacuation of citizens from Afghanistan to the support of citizens who have had their passport stolen abroad, we remain dedicated to this role. Staff in our consular directorate in Dublin, our 95 embassies and consulates general and our 94 honorary consuls around the world remain willing and ready to provide assistance and support to citizens in need.