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PEOPLE ARRIVING TO Ireland during the Covid-19 crisis will have to give an address of where they are staying which will be checked up on by authorities, under new measures due to be announced.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Health Minister Simon Harris said when a person arrives at the airport they will be required to fill out a form saying where he or she intends to stay for the period of their stay.
Currently people are asked to self isolate, but that is not checked, said the minister.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has made a number of recommendations to the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19, he added.
“I expect to be able to announce them shortly. We have to consult with a few more key stakeholders,” he said.
“We need to put that mechanism in place. While there is not a significant volume of people coming into the country now, we must be sure that we are not in a position where we are all following best practice here and people coming in from abroad are following a different one.
“I expect an announcement on the further tightening of restrictions at the airports, and more than just taking somebody at his or her word that he or she is following the isolation restrictions,” he said.
Currently, if someone comes to Ireland from overseas, whether you are an Irish citizen or not, they are expected to self-restrict their movements for 14 days.
Harris’ comments come after the Taoiseach admitted that “it is not monitored enough”.
“I think we need to do more on that, particularly as we reopen the country, and as we reopen foreign travel, we’re going to need to have these mechanisms in place to make sure that there are controls,” said the Taoiseach.
Varadkar said these new mechanisms will be put in place to monitor people who enter the country before wider foreign travel resumes in the coming months.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time programme, Varadkar said:
“As far as I’m concerned it should only happen if necessary, and must happen with restrictions to make sure that there are health checks, to make sure self-isolation is observed for 14 days, and we need to put in place a belt and braces approach.
We have the belt at the moment, we need the braces too, to make sure that is more tightly monitored.
“Even though the numbers going through airports have been very small, down 99% in terms of passenger travel in the past few weeks, even though we have had people coming through, we have had very few, if any, imported cases in the past few weeks, we just want to make sure there aren’t any now.”
He also insisted that Irish ports and airports must remain open to bring essential supplies into the country, including medical and food supplies.
Earlier today, Varadkar faced questions from opposition leaders today on the lack of transparency around decision-making during the Covid-19 crisis.
Labour leader Alan Kelly questioned the make-up of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), how members were appointed and who ultimately makes decisions.
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Apple Green. Keep the extortionate prices down and make some decent filled rolls unlike Topaz and you won’t go far wrong with the public.
Too late.
Topaz deli and coffee is awful.
Most Apple greens are nice and as I driver I appreciate their clean customer toilets the most!
You can spent €100 on diesel in Topaz to be told “sorry there’s no loo. Have some of our watery coffee”
Support local. Buy local.
I refuse to buy any petrol that wasn’t pulled from the ground on these very isles! I’ve been stranded on quite a few occasions and my car hasn’t moved since it ran out of fuel the day I bought it but I’m not changing my ways!
Hope the sub contractors get paid this time unlike what happened at the Lusk service station when it was built.
Not Applegreens fault, they paid the principal contractor who in turn shirt changed the sub contractors.
I should stand to be corrected on that bit that’s what I can recall from memory.
Applegreen is a great spot. Take kids to one in Castlrbellingham. Inside play area is great. Long haul lorry driver appreciate it, a safe place to pull in for the night grab a shower etc.
All good.
The thing you have to remember before you spout the “Buy Irish / Support Irish Jobs” nonsense, is that there are far more people living outside Ireland who consider themselves Irish than there are living on this island.
Therefore when you buy “foreign”, there’s a good chance that you’re supporting somebody who had to emigrate, or the company that game them a job when they had to emigrate, or their descendants. .
Neal,
Correct also what would happen to the economy if trading partners decided to stop buying Irish and to “buy local” think we’d be in a bit of a mess. It’s a 2edged sword
well done Neal, this has to be the stupidest thing I have ever read on the journal. regarding those who “had” to emigrate surely creating jobs in Ireland would enable them to come home.
What about all the family run garages that they will close down, like tesco, lidl and aldi, Irish money making British and German filthy rich companies richer and Irish stores to suffer and close.
People have voted with their feet and / or their level of disposable income.
I’m prob worse than anyone when it comes to aldi or apple green ye gotta love a deal, but that’s because they can buy in such big bulk. The smaller business can’t compete with that, I don’t own a store or know anyone who does, I just think it’s wrong because they open so many stores it doesn’t mean the demand for petrol will be greater it means some small business will eventually close and another Irish family will lose jobs.
Ben applegreen dont really use their economy of scale to keep fuel prices down. I generally find they are the same as any other garage around them price wise.
They sell bad fuel . Low mileage
Anything on where the 6 are?
Just to point out Applegreen is a 100 percent owned and run Irish company that now also branched to the UK and the US. A company that is very modest about their success.
Where are all the shinners complaining about these jobs? Actually where have the shinner bots gone since the elections. It is like the tap has been turned off. And criticism from Gerry and all of the Government has quietened a lot too. Seems they are preparing for Government by pretending they always supported austerity.
Because Applegreen don’t sell dodgy Shinner diesel.
Apple green come in open up company owned sites which eliminate small family businesses.
They use their economies of scale to create price wars and eventually the family owned stores die out. E.g Ennis
These news stories shouldn’t get praise for opening new stores as they will force close others.
You can’t create extra demand for Fuel
There is no service station off the motorway from Dublin to Waterford. (among other long stretches) What they are offering is a product to service motor way traffic not set up in the middle of your town. They are badly needed unless you want children to go to the toilet on the side of the road .
More profit in Lucoazade than petrol
have your say