Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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548. To ask the Minister for Health the reason an exemption to the mandatory hospital quarantine cannot be allowed for those attending the funeral of an immediate family member on compassionate grounds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22755/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Mandatory hotel quarantine has been introduced as one element of Ireland’s public health measures to combat the transmission of COVID-19 variants of concern.

The Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act.

Unfortunately attending a funeral does not qualify as a reason for an exemption from mandatory hotel quarantine. While recognising this is a difficult rule for persons affected it is deemed a necessary infection prevention and control measure to protect public health.

The mandatory quarantine system includes a system of appeal, to allow a person in quarantine to request a review of their quarantine. Requests for review of quarantine are submitted to the State Liaison Officer present in each designated facility and are considered by independent appeals officers. Decisions on requests for review are provided within a 24-hour period.

The Government continues to evaluate wider policy on international travel as informed by the epidemiological situation and public health advice. In this context, regulations have been introduced to allow 'fully vaccinated' persons arriving from designated states to be exempt from Mandatory Hotel Quarantine.

Neither I as Minister for Health nor my Department have a role in decisions relating to whether individual persons must enter mandatory quarantine or whether individual persons are exempted travellers. All such decisions are to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Further information, including the definition of 'fully vaccinated' can be accessed on www.gov.ie/quarantine.