Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 October 2021
187. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Transport if instructions will be in place regarding wearing of facemasks for transport workers in which close contact is unavoidable such as for driving instructors and their clients after the lifting of restrictions on 22 October 2021. [48760/21]
View answerTransport workers, including driving instructors, should continue to comply with Government health and safety requirements and guidance in order to ensure that we continue our progress in suppressing Covid. As our approach to the management of COVID-19 transitions from population wide restrictions to guidance, we should continue to practice basic preventative behaviours, including in relation to self-isolation and restricting movements when advised, observing good respiratory and hand hygiene, physical distancing and mask wearing when appropriate.
As outlined in COVID-19: Reframing the Challenge, Continuing Our Recovery and Reconnecting, which was announced by Government on 31 August, from 22 October, (subject to the criteria of at or close to 90% of people 16 or over being fully vaccinated and having regard to the incidence and behaviour of the disease at that time), Ireland will enter a new phase in our approach to the management of COVID-19.
Subject to this, and the advice of NPHET, the Government has signalled its intention that formal requirements/mandates for mask wearing outdoors and in indoor private settings will be removed. However, the intention is that there will be continuing requirements in relation to mask wearing in a range of settings including healthcare settings, indoor retail and on public transport. Facemasks may also continue to be needed to be worn in certain environments as part of sector specific measures to ensure a safe environment. Furthermore, individual efforts to wear masks based on individual risk assessment will remain an important component of our collective response to COVID-19.
