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

Under the new rules, any person entering the State through our ports or airports will have to have had a PCR test with a negative result within 72 hours of their arrival. The only exception that is being made is for people who are transport workers in that supply chain, such as hauliers, cabin crew and pilots, for obvious reasons. Some exceptions are made on compassionate grounds where someone needs to get back to the country very quickly because they may have a dying parent or child or something on those lines. Those are the only exceptions being considered at the moment.

PCR testing is not 100% and will miss some positives and there will be false negatives but it is the most accurate test that we have. Having had the PCR test does not mean that the person does not have to quarantine. The green, amber and red rules still apply as to restrictive movements and so on, once one arrives in the country. The objective in doing this is, first of all, to reduce the amount of international travel in order that only those who genuinely need to travel are doing so for essential reasons. The second objective is that by requiring the test one is reducing the risk. We have seen 97% to 98% compliance now with people flying in from Great Britain and it considerably reduces the risk.

People often ask why this was not done before. There are many reasons, not least of which was the availability of PCR testing months ago. The biggest problem with it is Northern Ireland and the fact that one can fly into Belfast, for example, from Britain, and perhaps even other parts of the world through Britain, without having a negative PCR test. This is something that we are engaging with the Northern Ireland Executive on but it is an area in which Sinn Féin, in particular, can be helpful. I often hear Deputy Doherty or Deputy McDonald on the TV and radio speaking as though Sinn Féin is not in government anywhere on this island. It is in Northern Ireland, it co-chairs the Executive there and has a responsibility to do the one useful thing it could do to help us battle the pandemic, which is to convince its coalition partners and the Northern Ireland Executive to bring in the same rules for people entering Northern Ireland from Britain and elsewhere. If we just do this here in the Republic, it will not be enough as it needs to be done in Northern Ireland as well. Constantly calling for an all-Ireland strategy is not good enough, as one has to do everything one can to achieve it. There is a particular responsibility now on the Sinn Féin Party, which co-chairs the Executive in Northern Ireland, to convince the other parties to do exactly that.

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