Today’s announcement in relation to travel effectively reduces the amount of time that passengers arriving from the UK have to restrict their movements for, according to Catherine Murphy TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats.
Deputy Murphy said:
“In a response to a parliamentary question from me on January 20, 2021, the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, stated that passengers who arrive from Great Britain, South Africa or any country in South America are advised to self-isolate for a period of 14 days following their arrival into Ireland. He said that a post-arrival test for these passengers would not apply as per other red/grey regions and those passengers are advised to complete the entire 14-day period of self-isolation.
“Yet, according to today’s announcement from Government, if UK passengers take a second PCR test after five days, they no longer need to restrict their movements. This is extraordinary given the fact that the UK variant of the virus is now the most prevalent one in our country. The Minister needs to urgently clarify the reasoning for this decision.”
January 26, 2021