Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support the framework but it is a framework; it is not a strategy. That is the point. What we need is a strategy which will hunt down the virus. To repeat those words that came in at the very beginning of all of this, we need to be hunting down the virus. A high area of risk is in terms of travel without any safeguards. People come into this country from many red list countries and there are no safeguards whatsoever in place. I asked the Taoiseach what happened to change that policy. Why was that policy changed? Surely it exposes the country to the importation of the virus. The Taoiseach talked about looking at the European traffic light system. If we were to introduce that now, Ireland would be in the red zone and we would be completely unprepared in terms of European requirements or standards for testing at our airports or for any kind of quarantining. Currently, there is no system in place. There are no plans under way to address that. That is why I am saying we need a strategy to minimise the virus. Unless the Taoiseach puts in place some kind of safeguards at ports and airports, he is wasting his time.

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