Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today I was approached by a group of Irish citizens working in Abu Dhabi. There are 10,000 Irish citizens living and working there. The United Arab Emirates is the fifth most vaccinated country in the world. The group which has been in contact with me will not be allowed into Ireland without mandatory hotel quarantine even though they have been fully vaccinated and can quarantine at home. In January they were offered Sinopharm as they faced significant local pressure to take the vaccine so they could keep their jobs. A number of these Irish citizens are tested weekly for their schools. One Irish citizen told me that he has had 37 PCR tests. This group has no issues providing antibody tests, prior to travelling, to show the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Sinopharm is currently undergoing approval from the World Health Organization and has been exported to more than 70 countries globally. The United Arab Emirates has a population of 10 million and has had 2,000 deaths, half that of Ireland's. To date, the United Arab Emirates has administered 9 million doses of vaccine.

This group of citizens is looking for permission to return home without having to do a hotel quarantine, since they can quarantine at home. Please accept that they have been vaccinated and let our citizens home.

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