Written answers
Wednesday, 24 February 2021
Department of Health
Covid-19 Pandemic
Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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823. To ask the Minister for Health if Irish citizens are permitted to travel to the UK for family reunification purposes; if partners are considered family; if family reunification is considered essential travel; if An Garda Síochána accept that this is essential travel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9644/21]
Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The current Regulations in effect providing for public health restrictions are the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 701 of 2020) as amended by both S.I. No. 4 of 2021 and S.I. No. 29 of 2021.
The regulations provide that a person shall not leave their place of residence, including to go to an airport or port for the purpose of leaving the State, without reasonable excuse. The list of reasonable excuses is non-exhaustive. It includes travel to give effect to arrangements for access to a child for parents or guardians of a child or a person who has a right of access to a child. It also includes travel to return to one’s place of residence and travel to attend to a vital family matter. Enforcement is a matter for An Garda Síochána.
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