Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing the short time available with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh. I assure the House that the Covid-19 outbreak is receiving careful attention across the Government. As we learn more about the virus, we will continue to take actions that are proportionate and based always on medical advice. For some time, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been dealing with the implications of the Covid-19 virus for Irish citizens overseas. Staff at our embassies and consulates on the ground and here in Dublin are providing extensive consular advice and assistance to citizens in affected areas across the globe. As always, we encourage our citizens to register their details on our citizens' registration facility, which is available on the Department's website. This will help us to contact people travelling and enable us to provide assistance in the event of a crisis such as this one.

We are working closely with our EU partners and other like-minded countries and with the World Health Organization, which is leading global efforts to control the spread of this virus and mitigate its impact, particularly in countries with weaker health systems. We have already contributed more than €1 million in support of these efforts. We are also working with the Department of Health, of course, and other relevant Departments and agencies in Ireland and internationally to ensure all appropriate advice and precautions are in place. Our dedicated advice line, which was activated on 25 February, will remain open at 01 6131733. More generally, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issues travel advice in respect of over 200 countries. This is available on the Department's website and on our Travelwise app, which provides advice for staying safe and information when abroad. I encourage everyone to download the app and to take out travel insurance before travelling overseas.

Over the past two weeks, due mainly to the Covid-19 outbreak, we have updated our travel advice in respect of over 100 countries. We have raised the overall security status in respect of China and Iran. We are now advising against non-essential travel to regions of South Korea. We have given further details about local developments in Japan and Singapore. Based on advice from medical experts, and in line with many EU partners, we upgraded our advice for Italy on 3 March, which was earlier this week. We are now recommending against non-essential travel to the four affected regions of northern Italy. We will continue to review and update our travel advice and to provide consular support and assistance to all our citizens overseas.

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