Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make two brief points. I thank the Minister for being here today. Many of us have met representatives of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, today. The pilots are just outside the national convention centre today and they have met many Deputies on their way into the Dáil. The point the pilots want to make is that we are all waiting with bated breath for these announcements to be made on Friday regarding easing restrictions on international travel, and international air travel in particular.

The point I wish to make on their behalf is that the digital green certificate makes provision for testing. It allows for rapid antigen testing and for antigen testing in its basic form as well. This must be an option for the Irish State. It has been embraced by 15 EU countries out of 27, and it must also be a method used in Ireland too in future, in tandem with PCR testing. The reality is that taking a PCR test three days before travelling is a bit like breathalysing people before they go into a pub, because not all the information will be captured. A rapid antigen test done on the day, however, some six or seven hours before departure, will detect a hell of a lot more. This must be the way forward, and it is a method which must be in the mix.

Turning to mandatory hotel quarantine, MHQ, we must retain that system, but only for people coming from countries which have a wild variant of Covid-19. We must enable air traffic from our neighbours in Europe, Britain and North America and we must welcome with open arms people who have been vaccinated in those countries. We should retain such quarantine, just in the basic form, for those countries where there is a wild variant. I finish by reiterating two numbers that I gave here yesterday. On 12 January, 8,200 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the country, but the number yesterday was around 400 cases. The two situations are not comparable and our State's response should also not be the same. I thank the Minister.

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