Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Minister will agree that communities right across the country, as well as businesses, families and individuals, have gone above and beyond anything we could have imagined this time last year with the onset of the pandemic. The truth is there are some things that only the Government can address if they are to be addressed adequately. The first is an adequate testing, tracing and isolation regime. The second relates to controls, regulations and the monitoring of particular sectors where clusters can develop very quickly and bring about a significant impact, including the meat industry. The third point relates to international travel restrictions. These are three big examples and with all three, the Government has fallen down somewhat in different areas.

I have listened to our transport spokesperson, Deputy O'Rourke, since the formation of this Government and on repeated occasions he has brought issues of concern to the Minister and the Government as a whole. These relate to the need for testing for passengers before and after travelling and he raised the need for a traffic light system as far back as last summer. He has spoken consistently about the need to put in place a quarantine regime. Any movement on these matters has often been too little and almost too late, although it is better late than never. Progress has been far too slow and we must address that.

This week in my county we have seen a number of additional checkpoints put in place on cross-border roads. The message should come from this House very clearly. People should not engage in unnecessary travel, regardless of where they are from. My native county of Monaghan borders six other counties, with three in the North and three in this State. The virus does not care which is which and will move across communities.

My fear is that the prevalence of checkpoints in one direction is, in many respects, a distraction, because it does not deal with the issue of community transmission. The big advantage that we have had since the start, that we have articulated since the start, and that Ireland has in the battle against Covid-19, is that we are surrounded by water. That advantage has not been utilised to the degree that is necessary.

My two questions are as follows. When will quarantine measures actually be in place for all those who enter this State without having completed a PCR test for non-essential travel? Second, what is the Minister doing to promote and encourage cross-border and all-Ireland approaches in respect of this? I refer, in particular, to passenger locator information. When will the Minister ensure that there is seamless sharing of necessary information between authorities, both South to North and North to South?

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