Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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207. To ask the Minister for Health when a parent can travel to see their child who lives in the UK without needing to use up annual leave to quarantine for two weeks on their return or to have a need to pay for expensive PCR tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26800/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has applied more stringent measures applying to international travel in order to mitigate against the risk of new variants being imported through travel and to protect the progress we are making in suppressing transmission domestically. The Government continues to advise against non-essential international travel.

At present, passengers arriving from the UK are required to complete a passenger locator form, to provide a negative pre-departure PCR test and to complete a period of quarantine at the address specified in their passenger locator form.

Due to concerns around the Delta variant, passengers travelling from Great Britain, who are not fully vaccinated, are asked to continue to quarantine until another negative is returned from a PCR test taken after day 10.

These travel measures are kept under continuous review based on public health advice and the international epidemiological situation. The Government has announced revised travel policies to take effect from 19 July in keeping with the EU Digital Covid Certificate. Work to give effect to these measures is progressing on a cross-departmental basis.