Responding to comments by Public Expenditure Minister, Michael McGrath TD, that mandatory hotel quarantine is due to come into effect by the end of this week, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Transport Darren O’Rourke TD said:

“It is quite incredible that it is taking this long to introduce a mandatory hotel quarantine regime. It goes to show that, despite being requested as far back as May 2020 to do so, no preparation had been made. 

“The Government’s regime does not go far enough. To be as effective as possible, it must cover all non-essential arrivals from all countries. The limited list of 33 countries is not enough. 

“We can see from the numbers of people who continue to undertake discretionary, non-essential travel, including from countries on the ‘Category 2’ list, that only an across-the-board mandatory hotel quarantine regime will have the desired effect of driving non-essential travel down and protecting against the virus.

“The Government still have time to change tack and to extend the regime. Given the fact that many European countries are in, or facing into, further lockdowns, with widespread community transmission of the virus, and with the growing threat of the importation and spread of variants in Ireland, that’s exactly what they should do.”