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Irish holidaymakers in Malta end quarantine as Embassy warns against travel without Digital Covid Cert

Malta is the only European country not accepting HSE vaccination cards as proof of vaccination.

LAST UPDATE | 22 Jul 2021

ALL OF THE holidaymakers who flew from Dublin to Malta and were forced into mandatory quarantine after their HSE vaccine cards were not accepted have now been issued with Digital Covid Certificates (DCC). 

Malta’s Department of Health confirmed yesterday that seven people who presented “non-compliant” certificates upon landing could leave quarantine when their DCCs were issued and their exit approved.  

Malta is part of the EU’s DCC system but those travelling there must be fully vaccinated in order to enter the country without having to quarantine.

The Journal reported on Tuesday that a number of people on the Malta-bound Ryanair flight presented HSE vaccination cards on arrival but they were not deemed as acceptable proof of vaccination despite the cards being checked before boarding. 

The Irish government had assured holidaymakers ahead of Monday’s return of non-essential travel that a DCC was not required if other documentation was available, but this was not the case with Malta. 

The Irish Travel Agents Association said yesterday that Malta is the only European country not accepting vaccination cards as proof. 

Maltese authorities had said that the individuals subject to quarantine can request an end to that quarantine if they obtained a valid DCC. 

Minister of State for eGovernment Ossian Smyth had said he and other departments were working to ensure that the certs were being sent to individuals affected. 

The work has involved officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the National Immunisation Office.

It has now been established that all the certs now been issued. 

An individual involved in the final case to be settled has told The Journal that they had left mandatory quarantine and were now in their own accommodation on the Mediterranean island. 

The first Dublin-Malta flight since this week’s confusion departed from Dublin Airport earlier this evening and is scheduled to arrive later. 

The Department of Transport had said it would be engaging with Ryanair and that the carrier would be “engaging with the Maltese authorities regarding requirements for travel to the country”. 

The Irish Embassy in Malta earlier tweeted advice to people travelling to the country, saying that people who are fully vaccinated must “possess an EU Digital Covid Certificate if vaccinated by Ireland’s HSE”. 

“If not, 14 day mandatory hotel quarantine applies at your expense. HSE card not accepted by Malta,” the Embassy said. 

“As such, consider rescheduling your flight to Malta if you are not in possession of the EU Digital Covid Certificate of full vaccination.”

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    Mute Rob LLoyd
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:45 PM

    With all the uncertainty and clarity about travel, its up to us as people to ensure we have all the relevant paperwork and documents BEFORE traveling, when this story broke last weekend, some people were already in Malta before the restrictions on free travel were lifted. Stay Safe Ireland ☀️

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    Mute VinnoH
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:19 PM

    @Rob LLoyd: Are you joking, a junior minister says it is safe to travel without a covid pass and they are stranded instead of on holiday!

    51
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    Mute HectorPickaxe
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:30 PM

    @VinnoH: The latest travel advice for most countries is readily available online. It is completely the responsibility of those travelling to check it. Ignorance or misinformation is not an excuse

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:42 PM

    @VinnoH: They could have looked it up on 3 seconds. I bet they researched where you could buy designer handbags.

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    Mute The Divils Avocado
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:44 PM

    @Vonvonic: sounds like someone hasn’t been out of the country in a while….

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    Mute Neil Neart
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:54 PM

    @VinnoH: trust a politician???? LOL.

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    Mute lelookcoco
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:02 PM

    @Neil Neart: Seriously people thought a hand written card was an acceptable official document. And my passport is written on papyrus with a quill…..

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:04 PM

    @The Divils Avocado: I’ve had the same handbag since my holy communion. Nothing at all wrong with it.

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    Mute Luan Willis
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:40 PM

    @The Divils Avocado: Who has been out of the country lately?

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    Mute Rob LLoyd
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 10:41 PM

    @VinnoH: ‘A Junior Minister Said’, after the last 16 months we have all had, with last minute changes, back tracking and U-turns, and leaky information from some ministers, I would take that advise with a pinch of salt, we need to take responsibility of our own actions, I have been bombarded with Emails from Aer Lingus since Christmas telling me to book and fly abroad, only I can’t, my decision is based on all the relevant information available.

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    Mute John Hagin Meade
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    Jul 23rd 2021, 8:54 AM

    @Luan Willis: The last time I was out of the country was in 2008, for me that’s recent. In my lifetime (I’m 70) I have been out of the country about 6 times.

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    Mute Linda Oreilly
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:50 PM

    Everyone knows that Malta is enforcing some of the strictest rules yet these people said ‘rules don;t apply to us’….hope they had to pay for their entire quarantine period.

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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:55 PM

    @Linda Oreilly: why would you hope they have to pay for their entire quarantine period? You sound incredibly bitter. One of our elected representatives tweeted before they traveled that if the DCC did not arrive by then the vaccine card filled out would have been accepted. Given this person’s position their advise was taken. They now have their DCC and will presumably be released for quarantine. Why do you want them to pay the full amount? As a punishment for traveling fully vaccinated id it? You sound like a lovely person…

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    Mute Bill Spill
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 6:17 PM

    @Eoin Jackson: I think you both sound lovely

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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 6:50 PM

    @Bill Spill: thanks Bill!

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    Mute Linda Oreilly
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:09 PM

    @Eoin Jackson: We have travelled to Malta lots of times and we always check out the restrictions from their gov. pages. We would never go by what an irish rep would tell us….always better to check the country you are travelling to….

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    Mute Victor Feldman
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:25 PM

    @Linda Oreilly: you really have to be naive to trust irish civil servant advice.. They said that they weren’t able to predict the enormous amount of calls on their coved cert line, that they are overwhelmed with!!
    Where I ask you, are their so called experts, with their university qualifications
    … What does this have to say about their levels of competence?

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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:44 PM

    @Linda Oreilly: oh no Linda, I 100% agree with you on that front, absolutely spot on! They were foolish, i can certainly agree with that. But at the end of the day, they did not cause much harm only to their own time and pocket. Like id be annoyed if they had forged vaccine passes or something, absolutely! They travelled fully vaccinated without the required paperwork, they were put in MHQ until paperwork was sorted and I would imagine then released. A good lesson for them but I don’t understand the abuse they are getting. Or why they should pay for 2 weeks MHQ if they were only there 2-3 days. Charge them the 2-3 days worth. Like everyone is young at some point and i would like to consider myself still young, learning and going to make mistakes. I wouldn’t like to be vilified for it and I don’t really think these people should be either. Is basically my point.

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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:40 PM

    @Victor Feldman: nothing. It says more about the fools ringing the number that shouldn’t be. They are the ones clogging the system.

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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:41 PM

    @Victor Feldman: nothing. It says more about the eejits ringing the number that shouldn’t be. They are the ones clogging the system.

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    Mute Michael Burke
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:22 PM

    @Bill Spill: ah Bill, that’s lovely. A really lovely thing to say.

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    Mute This time its personable!
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:27 PM

    The Maltese One! I hope they’re not ‘Cross’!

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    Mute Paul Mcnevin
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 3:34 PM

    @This time its personable!: If they are they can have a few Malt-easers.

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    Mute Tessa Madden
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:28 PM

    @Paul Mcnevin: hehehehe

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    Mute Angelika Passet
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 4:00 PM

    If you travel to Hungary without the digital cert.

    All those entering Hungary (unless transiting) must agree to enter mandatory, legally enforceable 10-day quarantine. If the person has no place of residency in Hungary, they must enter a government designated place of quarantine.

    The quarantined individual may request from the authorities’ permission to have two PCR tests conducted within 5 days of arrival, which must be taken 48 hours apart. If the two PCR tests are negative, the authorities can exempt the individual from their quarantine obligation. The cost of the PCR tests must be met by the individual.

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    Mute Contrary Mary
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:55 PM

    So nice to hear our government has their priorities straight. Ffs. Couldn’t get my nephew into a school for 2.5 years, but at least the ignorami helped some fools who travelled knowing those cards would not be accepted or didn’t bother to check.

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    Mute Anthony Clark
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 3:21 PM

    @Contrary Mary: Country is run by the whims of the media – whoevers story is more click bait worthy- gets into the headlines and gets their issues sorted pronto.

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    Mute Andrew English
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 4:41 PM

    @Contrary Mary: they were told by the minister their card would be accepted. Get your facts right.

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    Mute Contrary Mary
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 5:50 PM

    @Andrew English: Why would a minister HERE be the foo l you believed? Do you go to a minister HERE to get a visa to the US? No. You check through your destination’s government.

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    Mute Gerard
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:40 PM

    While Malta may be the outlier if it truly is the only part of the EU not accepting vaccination cards, refusing anything but the DCC still seems entirely reasonable.

    That was the whole point of it: so there was one standardised format everyone could recognise that was difficult to forge.

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    Mute Simon Fitzpatrick
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:47 PM

    Well … I spoke to the “help” line last week after a 30 minute hold only to be promised a cert by Monday by post – my wife’s cert came but not mine.

    Called Tuesday and was on hold for 5hr30 min before being cut off bang on 6:30pm when the call centre closed

    Called Wednesday and waited 4hr30 before speaking to a man who promised my cert “this evening or tomorrow” via email – but nothing so far

    Took an antigen test today as a back up in case the French border guards question to validity of the HSE bit of card with handwriting.

    Travelling tomorrow … any little faith in the HSE or anything they do now completely vanished … unfortunately

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    Mute kevin mc cormack
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:55 PM

    Good for them, hopefully they can now enjoy their holidays

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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:32 PM

    That is a disgrace

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    Mute D. Memery
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:43 PM

    @Joe Johnson: why, they flew over knowing their documentation wasn’t acceptable to the Maltese authorities?

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    Mute Sal Paradise
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:57 PM

    @D. Memery: It’s the journal. You have to be outraged. It’s a disgrace….grrrr….

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:08 PM

    @Joe Johnson: no its not

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    Mute VinnoH
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:11 PM

    I arrived in Athens today, no request for vaccine cert, no request for a person locator form (PLF) and yet barely allowed on the aerlingus flight because we had trouble producing our PLF. This is a virus you cannot control a virus, end this ridiculous carry on. By the way I do not appreciate the journals editorial control of commentary.

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    Mute Hugh Mc Donnell
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:14 PM

    I’m still confused as to what they want, is a digital cert different than the paper cert that was emailed to me during the week even though they contain the same information. Can I go online and download it

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    Mute Colm OS
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:26 PM

    @Hugh Mc Donnell: no its the same thing, you can make it digital by scanning it into the covid tracker app.
    The qr code on the paper cert contains basic information about you and your vaccine status which when scanned, allows the authority to confirm everything is legit by cross checking the name on the cert with your passport. The mirror has done a good explainer with step by step instructions https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/how-your-digital-covid-cert-24558938?utm_source=sharebar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sharebar

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    Mute Appaddy
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 11:51 PM

    Could we call them the Malteezers?

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