Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Decisions will be made by the Government, not by individual airlines. The decisions we make will be co-ordinated with the European Commission and with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA. We need to bear in mind that we are all EU citizens. EU citizens have the freedom to travel, work and study anywhere in the European Union. We can bring in limitations based on public health but they have to be justified.

In terms of foreign travel - by foreign travel I mean travel off the island of Ireland - our advice is that people should not engage in any unnecessary travel. The message is clear. It is there any time one turns on the TV. One should stay local, not leave one's county and not go more than 20 km from one's home unless one has to. That certainly says one should not travel abroad.

Anyone entering the country through our ports and airports has to sign a passenger locator form. It is an offence to fill it in falsely.

People are strongly advised to self-isolate for 14 days. The plan is to establish air bridges with other countries that have a similar level of viral suppression. We have not agreed any of them yet but that is the plan. Consideration is being given to testing at airports and ports but there are limitations. The cost of the test is not low. There is the inevitability of false negatives, since people in the early stages of the disease may not test positive but may spread it within days. A 14 day self-isolation period is still the safe route.

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