Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IRISH PASSPORT HOLDERS who were vaccinated outside the European Union can now apply for an EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate.
Any person who has been vaccinated with any combination of the following can sign up.
CoronaVac and SinoPharm are not being included for the moment but the Department of Health says it expects to add them “soon.”
Applicants must also have proof of vaccination from their country, be an adult and hold a valid Irish passport.
This is the link to the applications portal.
I’m pleased to announce that today Irish passport holders who were vaccinated outside of the EU can access an EU DCC.
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) November 18, 2021
This is on top of the service being available for passport holders in NI & GB https://t.co/q4t53NPL3G to get yours pic.twitter.com/nNt7A4f2he
Dubliner in Kansas
Alex Jordan, who is originally from Dublin but lives in Kansas, says it offers him “peace of mind” when moving between his home in the United States and his birthplace in Ireland.
He, along with his wife who is an Irish resident and a US citizen, were vaccinated in the United States earlier this year.
However she is not a passport holder, so does not qualify for an EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate.
They posses physical certificates from the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).
That has posed a challenge though, as he says “we can only hope” that those paper certificates will be accepted in other nations.
“This last year we’ve gone back and forth every 4 months, and next year we’re hoping to travel every 3 months.”
Alex added “we’ve just found it difficult and stressful to figure out what we need to do when flying home, or what to expect once we get home.”
“It’s not that the information isn’t available, it’s that the information keeps changing.”
Alex hopes the EU Digital Covid-19 Cert will make the whole process around travelling back and forth smoother in the future, at least for him.
Safe travel
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly welcomed the move saying, “I am so pleased to announce that having continued to work with partners across Government, the EU Digital COVID Certificate Third Country portal is now accessible today.”
“With over 23,000 certificates issued through the Third Country portal to date, this extension to our existing accessible digital services now offers access to all our eligible Irish citizens.”
Minister Donnelly says he’s particularly proud that Ireland is one of the few EU countries making this service available to citizens abroad to support safe travel.
Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora, Colm Brophy added that the Government is conscious of the “difficult situation” citizens abroad are in where travel is concerned.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
It’s illegal to not allow a 15 minute paid break after 4 1/2 hours work. Disappointing to see tesco dragging their feet about breaking the law
It’s simple folks, if you disagree with this – and you damn well should, don’t shop there. When these stores begin to see even a tiny drop in their profits they’ll suddenly find their conscience.
Or they will close it and all the jobs are gone.
@Ger As long as it’s profitable they won’t, but would you seriously want this threat held over our heads forever? We have to allow jobs like this, with low pay and illegal conditions, we have to take the crumbs from the table and suffer in silence, be grateful for it or else we’ll have no jobs at all. Seriously???
Meanwhile these stores won’t reveal their profits in Ireland, they won’t let us know just how much they’re making here but they have to do so in the UK by law. Why do you think that is?
If we enforced our legislation properly (which we more or less are above) there won’t be a need to boycott anything
No 2 FF/FG while it’s illegal not to allow a break, it’s my understanding that it doesn’t have to be a PAID break in all cases. It depends on the contract.
Ger
They won’t close.
They will pay up and they all should pay up. In the meantime we should boycott Tesco or at least spend less there.
Every little helps!
@Ger. People will not stop shopping – they’ll just go elsewhere, and the staff will follow them to where there is better working conditions.
Tesco have been making huge profits here for many many years – way above the rate in UK arm of company. They can afford to pay the staff.
Tesco should be fined as well as forced to give back pay.
Thats correct Jimmyjoe. But in this case they were treating one group of employees different. They were discriminated against in that all the other people who do the exact same job in the company get paid breaks, yet they were singled out.
Had it been in your job and two people sit side-by-side doing exactly the same work, and one gets paid for the 15min break and the other doesnt, that would be discriminatory too.
The Conrad hotel does not pay staff for breaks ,also pays normal rates for working Christmas Day ,it’s been getting away with this for years .
Report them
Conrad hotel is no different so to the rest of the Hospitality Sector. Most of them anyway.
No hotel or restaurant pays breaks, I haven’t had a paid break in 15 years, get over it!!
I even worked in one place, who took the hour pay out of your wages, and still no break was given!! Ha!!
On another note, are all employees entitled to Sunday premium pay in all employment sectors, does anyone know?
There are some exemptions. Chefs for instance. Chefs also never get a decent break and eat standing up in the kitchen when things quieten down for 2 mins. Its an industry wide thing in chefing.
No
I think companies can decide to pay you extra on Sundays, but they’re not obliged to.
They should pay up in total, if they don’t it’ll set a precedent and the likes of tescos will say no pay for breaks and when brought to court pay a percentage of the pay due and be financially better of than if they pay the full amount.
They should Tesco and sue the miserable b’stards!
Any improvements over at Dunne’s?? I’ve boycotted them for about 2 years now. Miss my vouchers. Wouldn’t mind a rummage round.
Full time contracts are still “on the table” no indication whether they’ll ever be picked up and actually given to staff
My boycott amounted to nothing so Ryan….
Tescos ‘Every little helps ‘ except if you work for them !!
Should everybody get paid breaks.my two breaks are unpaid on a 9 hour shift ? If so I’ll be due 10 years compensation
Yeah you’re supposed to get fifteen minutes paid break if you’ve worked 4.5 hours.
Just sent an email to siptu to try clarify it
Yes, you are entitled to a break of 15 minutes after a 4 ½ hour work period but there is no entitlement to be paid during these breaks and they are not considered part of your working time.
As it says in the article the paid breaks are part of Tesco’s own company guidelines, hence the legal action.
I doubt that the Bailieboro store is even making a profit…unlike the Tesco store in Cavan town where the workers appear to take their break outside on the pavement.
have your say