Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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241. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the initiatives taken by his Department to access EU funding to provide free Covid-19 testing in order to facilitate safe transport and movement of citizens and to support the transport sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43644/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Covid-19 tests for travel are not provided by the State and my Department has not sought EU funding for these tests. However since the easing of restrictions on international travel in July 2021, we have seen a welcome increase in international passenger numbers.     

In addition to passenger travel, Ireland relies on the transport sector for our international connectivity for the continued supply of goods in and out of the country. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Government has been very focused on ensuring that all the elements of the supply chain continue to function for our economic wellbeing.  In April 2020,  the Government introduced the temporary designation of five strategic maritime routes into and out of Ireland as Public Service Obligation routes for a period of up to three months.  In January 2021, my Department put in place testing arrangements for HGV drivers traveling to France following new rules introduced by France requiring HGV drivers to have negative covid tests prior to entering the country. These tests were provided free of charge to HGV drivers at sites in Dublin and Wexford close to Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort until April 2021 and were only discontinued after the requirements by the French authorities were dropped. Ireland also continues to exempt essential transport workers travelling in the course of their international duties from testing and quarantine requirements when entering Ireland in the interests of keeping supply chains open.

In relation to supports for businesses in general, the Government's Economic Recovery Plan has extended the period during which a range of business supports will be available to enterprises and workers in all sectors of the economy.