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

The Government is not giving any consideration to putting the Army on the Border between the North and the South. We struggled and fought too hard for too many decades to take all armies off the Border and we certainly do not want to be the jurisdiction that puts uniforms on the Border again. That is not something to which we are giving consideration. The point raised by the Deputy is a serious one. The situation in Northern Ireland is much more serious than the situation here. There is a very significant reservoir of infection in Northern Ireland and people travelling to and from Northern Ireland create a real risk. We need to enforce the 5 km rule, but that is best done by the Garda rather than by military means.

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