Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The front page of today's The Irish Timesleads with a headline stating that new Covid restrictions will target foreign travel. It also states that a revised plan for living with Covid will be unveiled by the end of the month and that there will be some form of restrictions until at least the end of the year. It further states that the Minister and officials intend to introduce legislation next week which will provide for mandatory quarantine in hotels for incoming travellers. I find it incredible that we are still talking about something that should have been done well before Christmas. This sums up the Minister's approach to travel and Covid.

We keep hearing about plans but we need to see real action. Official figures show that 110,930 people came through Dublin Airport last month, of whom 60% travelled for non-essential reasons. I find it incredible that even at the height of the third lockdown, such a large number of people were travelling through our main airport for non-essential reasons. The requirement for a polymerase chain reaction, PCR, test was only introduced on 16 January. Some 64,000 people passed through Dublin Airport between 1 January and 16 January. This is another example of the Minister doing too little too late.

I have been calling for much tighter control of our Border with Northern Ireland. At a time when the North had one of the highest rates of infection, we had no control of our Border and people were free to travel in both directions. It was no coincidence that counties along the Border had the highest rate of infections on the island. Only last week, An Garda Síochána was given the power to turn back travellers from the North if their journey is not deemed essential. This is another example of the Minister doing too little too late, which unfortunately seems to be a regular occurrence with him and his Department.

With regard to new powers given to the Garda in the area of cross-Border travel, will the Minister indicate whether the PSNI will replicate the actions of the Garda and turn back travellers from the South who cross the Border. My understanding is that the PSNI is not following the same guidelines as the Garda. The Minister needs to get a grip of the travel situation and speak with his counterparts in the North to ensure we have a common approach on the island of Ireland. I understand the need for essential travel and have no issues with people crossing the Border for essential purposes but we must put a stop to people on both sides of the Border crossing for non-essential purposes.

I read in recent days that UK travellers were using Dublin Airport as a means of returning from trips to places like Dubai and Portugal. They were apparently using it as a back door to Britain. The reason is that direct flights to these regions have been stopped in the UK. This is another example of the lack of action by the Minister and his Department. The UK Government took the decision to stop these direct flights and now UK travellers are using Dublin Airport as a means of going on holiday to Dubai and Portugal. This matter must be investigated and action taken. It is not fair on airport staff. I have spoken to a number of them and they have raised serious concerns about this. It is simply unacceptable, should not be allowed to happen and must be stopped immediately. Can the Minister confirm that he has discussed this with his UK counterparts? On people arriving at Dublin Airport and travelling onward to the North, will the Minister indicate whether he is in contact with his counterpart in Northern Ireland about this matter and on people using airports in Belfast and travelling onwards to the South? As an island, it makes sense to have a common approach to the pandemic when it comes to travel restrictions.

The Tánaiste was reported yesterday as stating that talks were ongoing between officials in Ireland and Britain about agreeing an overall two-island strategy, that we would see all jurisdictions adopt similar travel restrictions and that this could involve Ireland adopting the same restrictions as other countries. I find it incredible that, in the third wave of a pandemic that has been with us for a year, the Government is still having discussions with our nearest neighbours on travel restrictions. The Department and Government need to get a grip of this situation. The time for talking is surely over; we now need action on the ground.

I urge the Minister and his Department to get to grips with travel and Covid restrictions. It is not good enough that the Minister continually states that we are in talks with other jurisdictions about introducing restrictions. We were at least three months late introducing Border restrictions between North and South and we all know the consequences of that. I ask the Minister to take control of the situation, show proper leadership in his Department and, once and for all, introduce travel restrictions that will keep the pandemic at bay and prevent any new strains or variants from entering the country.

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