Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has signed regulations that will introduce a system of mandatory quarantine for arrivals into the State.
Those who refuse to quarantine at a specified address will face a €2,500 fine and/or up to six months in prison.
The regulations give effect to the recent Government decision to implement a regime for mandatory quarantine at home.
Under these regulations, passengers who arrive from any destination must quarantine for 14 days at the address specified on their Passenger Locator Form, with penalties for non-compliance.
Mr Donnelly said: “The clear Government and public health advice is that everybody should avoid non-essential travel completely. Last night, I signed additional regulations that puts mandatory quarantine at home on a statutory footing. All travellers into the country must now adhere to staying at home and enforcement will be a matter for An Garda Síochána.”
“Additionally, our public health advice is that people subjected to mandatory quarantine should self-isolate within their homes to assist in protecting those around them,” he added. "Further work on additional legislation to implement mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for those arriving from countries with variants of concern, such as Brazil and South Africa is being progressed and will be implemented as soon as possible.”
Limited exemptions
There are limited exemptions from quarantine for essential reasons, but only as strictly necessary, this is not a general exemption.
Those exempted must follow quarantine rules at all other times.
Exemptions include workers for repair and maintenance of critical infrastructure.
The Minister for Health will also have the power, on advice from chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan, to designate countries from which travel represents a public health risk due to the presence of variants of concern.
These countries will be classed as 'category 2' states.
There are no exemptions for arrivals from category 2 states to break quarantine, except for emergency reasons, for example a person who travels to the State for unavoidable, imperative and time-sensitive medical reasons.
Countries where there is a high prevalence of variants of concern are category 2 states. Currently, Brazil and South Africa are categorised as such. Travellers from these areas must observe the full period of isolation.
These regulations also extend the mandatory requirement for all arriving passengers to have a negative PCR test. It is now an offence not to have evidence of this test; people may be fined up to €2,500 or receive a prison sentence of six months, or both. There are very limited exemptions from this test requirement including for essential transport workers, gardaí and Defence Forces personnel in the course of their duties.
PCR test
Anyone who does arrive without a RT-PCR, is required to take a test within 36 hours of arrival. It is an offence not to take the test and can result in a fine of up to €2,500 or a prison sentence of up to six months, or both.
Persons who travel from another State, and into the State via Northern Ireland, will be required to have a not-detected PCR test result and to observe the statutory quarantine regime.
