Calling on the Taoiseach to act today on people coming into Ireland from areas where Covid-19 is out of control, such as cities in the US, Catherine Murphy TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats, said:
“Restaurant and tourist businesses owners have been catapulted into being the primary vetting agencies for their customers who may be coming from abroad. It is clear that neither they, nor the public in general, have any confidence in the measures the Government has in place, or indeed, not in place, to ensure that people coming into Ireland are not bringing new cases of Covid-19 with them.
“It is imperative that the Taoiseach acts today to put in place measures for incoming travellers to Ireland that ensure the safety of people in Ireland from Covid-19.
“At a time when our businesses are trying to open up, repair the damage of the last four months and rebuild a functioning economy, the risks that the Taoiseach continues to place on Ireland by not challenging inward travel are not acceptable.
“We need a government that makes decisions, not one that leaves people and businesses to the mercy of luck. Why does internal travel from Covid-19 hotspot cities within the US have mandatory quarantining for 14 days, but travellers from the same cities have nothing other than a polite, unenforceable request to quarantine here?
“It is now essential that, today, the Taoiseach brings in a ‘red’ list for countries from which travel is not allowed, except for stated essential reasons. As each day goes by, the risks increase and the consequences of continued inaction to our business, to the reopening of our schools and to people’s wellbeing, health and mental health are enormous.”
ENDS
July 15th, 2020