The Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act. All applicable travellers must reserve and pay for a place in mandatory hotel quarantine.
The Health (Amendment) Act 2021 identifies those who are exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine and a full list of exemptions can be accessed on gov.ie/quarantine. This now includes persons fully vaccinated with a European Medicines Agency approved vaccine.
The provisions of the Act also allows for travellers to request a review of decisions relating to their quarantine; however this can only be undertaken once quarantine has begun.
I understand that my colleague the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is establishing a refund mechanism for students returning from Erasmus programmes who are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility.
The Government continues to evaluate wider policy on international travel as informed by the epidemiological situation and public health advice, including the possibility of future exemptions.
Neither I as Minister for Health nor my Department have a role in decisions relating to whether individual persons must enter mandatory quarantine or whether individual persons are exempted travellers.