Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not believe there is any confusion. There is no clear decision from the Government yet on moving away from our current approach to international travel, which is very restrictive. There is hope, of course, that as we move through summer that position will change as more people are vaccinated and society becomes more protected with the shield of vaccination. Other countries across the European Union will create a level of protection, along with the United States, and there is hope that the public health risks linked to international travel - specifically importing or reseeding Covid-19 and new variants - will lessen. The hope is that will happen as protection for our citizens increases and the protection for those likely to travel increases as well.

The Government has not agreed a timeline or dates around a change to international travel policy.

I hope that by the end of this month the Government will have had an opportunity to consider this seriously and to give a line of sight on the timelines that people can plan and prepare for. We know the European Commission will have a new green passport system ready for June but that is a system that is primarily designed for the EU. Whether or not a similar system gets extended to facilitate transatlantic travel is something the European Commission has hinted at but it has not delivered any papers on it to date that I am aware of.

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