Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being tetchy or cranky. As public representatives, we are receiving complaints from people who are travelling that they are not being asked for forms and results. I appreciate that there will be long queues and difficulties but if we are serious about trying to keep a variant out, there is a view that we should be checking all documentation around Covid. That is the view in the wider public. There is a need for us collectively to give real information and provide people with what is required. I do not want Mr. Towey to think I am being rude but with the best will in the world, people will try to skip any responsibility to get on a plane to come home or whatever.

If I may introduce a note of positivity, the Department of Foreign Affairs helped people to leave Morocco recently. It was very hands-on and positive in its engagement and got people home safely. I thank the Department for that. I apologise, Chairman, as I am not normally cranky but this is serious. Civil libertarians are attacking us for taking away liberties and curtailing rights, while on another level we do not seem to be doing what it says on the tin.