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

I can assure Deputy Harkin that we are thinking about it and have been thinking about it all year in the context of international travel. It would be safe to say that Ireland has been one of the most restrictive countries in the EU in terms of international travel. We have taken a lot of criticism from the airlines and there has been huge frustration at our airports because of that. We believe it is for good reason, despite the fact that Ireland, arguably, relies on air travel more than any other country in the EU, with the possible exceptions of Malta and Cyprus. We want to try to change our approach while making sure that we are continuing to be compliant with public health advice. We do not want, following enormous efforts and sacrifices from people, to reintroduce the virus again through international travel, which is a danger if it is not managed right. This is a difficult balance to get right.

We have also made the decision that we are not going to have mandatory quarantine, enforced by knocking on people's doors. Instead, we have introduced a mandatory element to the policy in the context of the passenger locator form and the legal requirement to fill that out accurately. It is not a perfect system but by and large it has worked reasonably well. It has limited international travel significantly and has kept the number of clusters linked to such travel to a very low level. That is not to say it is perfect but we will continue to try to evolve this policy in a way that facilitates international travel but in a safe way.

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