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LAST UPDATE | 7 Mar 2021
PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins has signed into law the legislation to bring in mandatory quarantine in a designated facility for certain passengers entering the country.
The Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 was brought forward to the Dáil by the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last month.
It was passed in both the Dáil and the Seanad and has now been signed into law by the president.
The Bill provides for a system of mandatory quarantine at designated facilities.
People arriving into Ireland from certain countries will have to stay at designated hotels for up to 14 days.
Having considered the Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 the President has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law.
— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) March 7, 2021
Welcoming the news today, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the operationalisation of the quarantine facilities “is being advanced on a cross-departmental basis as a matter of priority”.
The Department of Health is leading the implementation process, supported by a number of Departments and agencies including Foreign Affairs, Transport, Justice, Public Expenditure and Reform, Children, the Defence Forces, as well as via input from the private sector.
“The next step in this process is to finalise and sign a contract with a service provider. I anticipate this will happen shortly”, said Minister Donnelly.
The government is continuing to advise against all non-essential international travel and a range of statutory measures are in place to reinforce this policy.
Passengers travelling to Ireland from certain designated states must complete a full 14-day quarantine period.
This applies to all passengers from designated states, regardless of nationality and the aim of this measure is to protect the population from challenges posed by new variants of concern. A list of designated states is available here.
A National Oversight Group for Variants of Concern has been established to monitor and address the challenges posed by VOC.
The group provides advice to the Chief Medical Officer, who in turn advises the Minister for Health on countries to be specified as designated states.
The list of designated states is subject to continuing review.
With reporting by Orla Dwyer
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Ahhhhhhh its a great little country ain’t it. No future for any young person/s looking to get on the housing ladder. Because when ye eventually get the holy grail loan approved ye be gazzumpd by the the very people who offered ye the house in the first place.KIP.
The Davos Wokes, of which Leo is a ‘young global leader’ have told you straight up that you will own nothing and you WILL be happy about it. What part of this is confusing or continually a surprise for people?
No way. Who would have thought that if you price gouged people, they wouldn’t have money to spend in the local economy? Well, colour me surprised.
@Ciaran Burke: yep, the best time to by a house is now, as the property gurus would say…
This is where the government will stand in and pay the rest so they can take equity and keep the prices high for their developer friends.
Ireland is overrated!
@marian: Well the comments section would give you the impression it’s a third world country
@Mickety Dee: well if you look at our housing and health depts, it keeps going the way it is it won’t be far off.
@Mickety Dee: When you look at the infrastructure and the health system, Ireland is closer to African countries than to continental Europe. The quality of life is higher than in most EU countries, but the standard of life is much lower.
Never had an issue with the health department.
Apart from the occasional wait in A&E – longest was 10 hours, while annoying, was totally understandable due to patient prioritisation.
Yes there’s too many managers, yes money gets wasted, yea, the staff are underpaid & overworked, but when you think of the volume of people they’re seeing, it’s probably not that much based on percentages.
No one can solve the Housing crisis until the promised Referendum on Housing is run and passed asap.
There is no provision in the Irish Constitution, unlike other advanced democracies, on the importance of affordable and secure housing ownership or rental and this is having dreadful consequences on many ordinary people who are left without the security of their own home.
The Referendum must be run asap to enable all the legislation needed to remove the barriers to affordable homes. VAT alone is €28,000 on a new home – obscene. 37% of the price of new homes is “artificial” and can be removed by a Referendum.
https://www.change.org/p/irish-referendum-on-family-home-special-status
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