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

The Deputy is a great man to try to twist reality to try to make political arguments. The Government message is very clear to people. This year people should holiday at home. That is the safest thing to do for their families and themselves. If people are travelling, and we know that up to 50,000 people a week are, my Department has an obligation to give factual information based on risk and data. That is what we have done. The public health advice, which is to stay at home this year, is very clearly part of the message of the Government to the public but that is a different thing to the obligation that the Department has to assess risk levels in countries and to give accurate information to people who have chosen to travel. That is the position. If we were doing Ryanair's bidding, I do not think it would be threatening to take us to court or, as we speak, giving evidence to a committee criticising the Government's international travel policy, as it does every single day. The truth is the policy we have taken, which is in line with public health advice, has been to dramatically limit international travel to less than 10% of what it would normally be at this time of year. We have done this because it is the right thing to do to protect public health. That is what we continue to do.

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