Dr. Cillian De Gascun:

There have been a number of reports of transmission in the context of air travel but I do not think it is the primary risk. The risk relates to the activities, as discussed earlier, on either side of the journey. That is where the ultimate risk lies. Even if people are tested prior to travel, it is not a guarantee that they are not incubating infection. Having a single point of testing, therefore, has significant limitations. It is certainly a good way of keeping off the plane people with an RNA-detected result, but the problem is the 30% to 35% of individuals who, in that first few days of their infection, do not believe they are infected and will be assured by the result of the test. They will then come to whichever country, whether Ireland or another, and will not restrict their movements because they will believe they are not a risk. That is the concern. I do not believe an aeroplane to be a high-risk environment at all but, unfortunately, that is not what we are trying to address. It is about people moving from red or orange countries to what will, hopefully, be lower risk countries by December.