Hauliers travelling from Ireland to France will no longer require proof of a negative test for Covid-19, effective immediately.
The Department of Transport was informed on Friday that the French Government has amended its legislation requiring evidence of a negative test.
The change comes in light of very low positivity rates of Covid-19 among commercial vehicle drivers, and is in line with EU “green lanes” recommendations.
RocDoc, a private provider of Covid-19 testing, reported a positivity rate of 0.24 per cent among hauliers to the Department.
This saw 14 positive test results from 5,743 antigen tests carried out on drivers, from January 28th to March 4th.
Antigen tests are quicker but less reliable indicators for the virus than the gold-standard PCR test.
UK landbridge
The Department of Transport said that drivers travelling from Britain to France or the Netherlands will still require proof of a negative test for the virus.
This means that any hauliers travelling from Ireland to these countries via the UK landbridge must still provide proof of having tested negative for the virus.
Proof of a negative test result is also still required for travel to Germany.
In a statement, the Department of Transport said: “Drivers intending on travelling on such routes may continue to obtain a test here in Ireland at existing testing facilities (or in Great Britain).
“In accordance with EU green lane recommendations, Ireland will continue to maintain a policy of exempting essential transport workers not showing symptoms of Covid-19 from quarantine and testing requirements when entering Ireland.
“We will continue to encourage all EU member states to follow this policy also in the interests keeping supply chains open within the single market.
“This is particularly important for the continued movement of medical supplies and essential goods into the country.”
