Covid-19 Pandemic

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2021

Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Questions (936)

Gino Kenny

Question:

936. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Irish students who are completing studies abroad of courses not available in Ireland and who are returning to see family and work after a period of quarantine will find the cost of mandatory hotel quarantine prohibitive and this will substantially affect their ability to complete their studies; his views on the fact that Erasmus students' mandatory hotel quarantine costs are being covered by their colleges acknowledging that students should not be expected to pay this themselves; if he will consider waiving the charges for returning students in order that all students are treated equally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24660/21]

Written answers

Minister for Health

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.

The Government continues to evaluate wider policy on international travel as informed by the epidemiological situation and public health advice. An example of this is the recently added exemption for fully vaccinated persons arriving from designated states who are now exempt from quarantine in a designated facility, although must still have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever specified on their passenger locator form.

Queries relating to students abroad and any agreements to cover the cost of quarantine in a designated facility for those students not considered an exempt traveller should be referred to my colleague the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.