Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge his strong and ongoing position on travel measures. As he will be aware, we had a full travel ban between Britain, South Africa and here. That has now been changed. There were two steps. The first was to bring in a mandatory requirement for a clear or negative PCR test up to 72 hours before travel. On top of that, critically, when a person travels here, all the same measures are still in place. It does not replace them. Therefore, a person coming from Britain and South Africa still must self-isolate for 14 days, get a day-five test and that is it. It is three days before a person travels with a PCR test and all of that.

Yesterday, the Cabinet went further and extended the mandatory three-day PCR test to every country. Everyone coming into the country now needs the PCR test and needs to be able to produce documentation of that. If they do not, it is an offence with a fine of up to €2,500 or six months in prison. We are taking it very seriously indeed and on top of that, a person still must restrict his or her movements for a full 14 days or take a second PCR test on day five.

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