Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 February 2021
571. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Justice the procedures in place for checking the Covid-19 negative tests of persons entering this country from abroad; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5323/21]
View answer593. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice the proportion of incoming travellers who have complied with the request to have a PCR test. [5832/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 571 and 593 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, in excess of 185 such cases have been referred to An Garda Síochána for further investigation at ports of entry nationwide. 150 of these cases relate to arrivals at Dublin Airport. There have been 36,820 arrivals at Dublin Airport since 16 January, which equates to a referral rate of 0.41%.
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.
