Patrick Costello
Question:555. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of not detected PCR tests officials have checked and registered at Dublin Airport since 16 January 2021. [5098/21]
View answerWednesday, 3 February 2021
Questions (555, 556)
Patrick Costello
Question:556. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if her Department has identified fraudulent PCR results presented at Dublin Airport; and if so, the number. [5100/21]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 555 and 556 together.
From midnight on 15 January 2021, all passengers arriving into Ireland by air or ferry are required to produce evidence of a negative/not detected RT-PCR Covid-19 test, taken up to 72 hours prior to arrival.
Regulations under the Health Act 1947 underpin these new requirements. Under these Regulations, passengers are legally required to produce evidence of a negative/not detected result from an RT-PCR Covid-19 test when boarding a ferry or aircraft and will be denied boarding by the carrier if they cannot produce such evidence unless they fall into the very limited exemption categories.
Checks of evidence of a negative/not detected RT- PCR Covid-19 test on all arriving passengers into the State are carried out by Immigration Officials of the Border Management Unit of my Department and An Garda Síochána at ports of entry to the State. All cases where a test result is not available, or where the authenticity of the test result documentation is queried, are referred for further investigation to An Garda Síochána who have a presence at all approved ports of entry to the State.
Since the introduction of these Regulations on 16 January 2021, there have been 36,820 arrivals at Dublin Airport, with 150 cases (0.41%) referred to An Garda Síochána for further investigation. No cases of suspected fraudulent test results have been referred to An Garda Síochána for further investigation at Dublin Airport.
Passengers who arrive in an Irish port or airport without evidence of a negative/not detected test result or with a confirmed fraudulent test result will commit an offence and may be subject to prosecution, punishable by a fine not exceeding €2,500 and/or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both. In such cases An Garda Síochána will prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.