Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

People are anxious to hear the advice the Government will give for those living abroad who are thinking of travelling home for Christmas. The approach for travel into and out of Ireland must be guided by the public health advice. The emphasis should be on adhering to the public health advice, advising against all non-essential travel, continuing the excellent work of keeping Covid-19 numbers down and avoiding the risk of importing cases but we also know that people have sacrificed a great deal this year. For some people, for example those who have suffered a bereavement, are struggling with their mental health or isolation, coming home for Christmas is an essential journey. While many will choose to stay abroad this year, we need to exercise compassion and common sense and the State needs to prepare for those who do travel. Central to that preparation is clarity and advice and ensuring that people who intend to travel know what is expected of them in terms of the traffic light system, restrictions of movement etc.

Equally important is the system of checks and controls we have at ports and airports to minimise the risk of importing the virus. The system we have in place is not fit for purpose and there are no plans to improve it before Christmas. On contact tracing, the passenger locator form and follow-up is entirely inadequate. On testing, PCR testing is available at airports, which is something, but it is expensive. That is a problem. Also, it is entirely voluntary, which is an even greater problem. I am very concerned that many people will opt out of the airport testing system, which is allowed. In fact, the Minister's Government is expecting it. In the Dáil on 12 November, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, said they are expecting demand for testing to be in the region of 150 to 300 tests per day. When people, myself included, were confused about that figure in terms of whether it was expected demand or expected supply, the Department of Transport clarified that it was the expected demand. Based on October's figures, 150 to 300 tests a day would equate to less than 3% of travelling passengers. It might not be 3% but it is a long way off 100%. If too many people opt out of testing and we have no follow-up on passenger locator forms we are leaving ourselves exposed. The system must be improved and there are options such as mandatory testing, rapid antigen testing and investment in the passenger locator form follow-up. I encourage the Minister to improve on those areas.

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