Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. Many people look at this and wonder if it is consistent. With the EU Covid-19 certificate we have a recognised recovery period of six months and as the Deputy has said, we have recent advice from HIQA that has been endorsed by National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, that the presumptive period is nine months. It is a reasonable question as to why we do not adjust the Covid-19 certificate accordingly.

The EU digital Covid-19 certificate regulation creates a framework for the issuing, authentication and validity of certificates to facilitate the safe and free movement across the EU during the pandemic. Certificates are proof a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from Covid-19. This initiative has been adopted by countries around the world, confirming its status as a robust international standard for Covid-19 certification. To date, 24 third countries have joined the initiative and a further 32 are in the process of joining. This really demonstrates how Europe can set global standards through decisive and co-ordinated action.

The Irish Government has successfully delivered the EU digital Covid-19 certificate to the Irish public, and to date more than 4.5 million certificates have issued nationally, with more than 25,000 also issuing to the Irish diaspora, which is very welcome. Across the EU, in excess 600 million certificates have been issued.

The wide implementation of this tool for accessing indoor hospitality and services has supported the reopening of our economy and society nationally. The scope and parameters for issuing the certificates has been agreed at EU level and is standardised to allow for complete interoperability. That gets to the core of the Deputy's question. Currently, the agreed maximum validity date for recovery certificates is 180 days after the date of a positive PCR test result, as set out in the EU regulation.

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