The North’s health minister has expressed concern that the region was turned into a “funnel” for people travelling to the Republic from Britain, after Ireland imposed a flight ban.
Robin Swann said the Irish Government did not give the Stormont executive advance notice of the prohibition and suggested ministers could have taken measures to address the increase in passengers if they had known.
It comes as the Irish Cabinet has agreed that travel restrictions between Ireland and Britain will remain in place until December 31st.
The ban was initially introduced for a period of 48 hours after the emergence of a mutated strain of the coronavirus in Britain, which is believed to be more contagious.
The ban was due to expire at midnight on Tuesday but has now been extended until New Year’s Eve.
Aer Lingus has said it will not operate flights from Britain to Ireland while the ban remains in place.
However, flights from Ireland to Britain will continue in order to facilitate the repatriation of customers to Britain and those with connecting flights there.
In a statement the airline said: “Customers whose flights have been cancelled will be contacted by Aer Lingus directly, and are entitled to a refund, voucher or rerouting at a later date.”
Funnel
“From what I am aware, by speaking to other ministerial colleagues, we didn’t have any pre-sight of that,” Mr Swann told the Assembly scrutiny committee of the Republic's travel ban.
“I think FM (first minister) and dFM (deputy first minister), like myself, received the call after it had been announced.
“So it left us as the funnel or as the avenue of getting back in.
“If there had been more co-ordination and conversations it could have made a difference.”
Mr Swann also questioned the Irish Government’s decision to charter flights to take people back home to Ireland while the ban on commercial flights was in place.
“They’re bringing back the same people that would have been coming on those commercial flights over the past 48 hours, so I struggle to see the benefit in that ban if you’re bringing back the same people from the same area but actually putting them into a smaller compact number of aeroplanes and ferries as well, where they will interact,” he said.
Minister @simoncoveney & Minister @EamonRyan announce Covid consular flights and ferry access for Irish residents stranded in Great Britain.
Full Statement available 👉https://t.co/G35RfrC6M1 pic.twitter.com/QOSkJPME8FAdvertisement— Irish Foreign Ministry (@dfatirl) December 21, 2020
During his appearance before the committee, Mr Swann explained the rationale for stopping short of recommending a ban on travel between Northern Ireland and Britain.
He highlighted the impact on supply chains, warning that medical stocks could have been endangered.
“We have a concern about our supply chains in regards to anything that would stop the movement of ferries or aeroplanes, because we are reliant, we’re at the end of a very long supply chain when it comes to some medicines and some medical devices,” he said.
It comes as the leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland has called for a legal ban on travel between the region and Britain.
Mr Swann also told members that as of Monday, about 20,000 people had received their first Covid-19 vaccine jab in Northern Ireland.
He said 309 care homes – almost two thirds of the total number of homes in Northern Ireland – had been vaccinated. The minister said that included 7,311 residents and 8,600 care home staff.
