TWO PASSENGERS WHO flew to Ireland from Israel and brought cases to the High Court against their stays in mandatory hotel quarantine is allowed to leave their hotels.

It is understood that Inbar Aviezer has been permitted to leave the hotel today on the foot of a ministerial order.

The permission she received to leave the hotel comes after Israel was removed from the list of origin countries from which passengers arriving into Ireland must quarantine in a hotel.

The High Court will continue to hear the case tomorrow morning.

Aviezer’s lawyers are expected to seek to have a final court order made in relation to the case. 

Aviezer has been quarantining in a hotel in Dublin since she arrived into Ireland.

Before travelling to Ireland, she was vaccinated for Covid-19 in Israel and had tested negative for the virus twice in recent days.

Conor Power SC said on Friday that his client believes she is being detained unlawfully.

Power said that the requirement for her to quarantine at a hotel is “disproportionate” and that factors such as her vaccination and negative tests had not been considered.

Aviezer is a citizen of Switzerland, Israel and the United States. She is due to start a new job in the healthcare sector this month, her lawyer told the court.

She has been quarantining at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel near Dublin Airport since Wednesday under the requirements of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021.

Derek Jennings, 47, has also been allowed to leave the Crowne Plaza in Dublin where he was quarantining after arriving from Israel.

Jennings is from Clondalkin and had been working in Israel since February.

He travelled home after his father, who has cancer, was admitted to intensive care during the week when his health deteriorated.

Speaking to the Press Association, Jennings said that it was a “relief” to be allowed leave and that his father is still sick in hospital.

He said that he agrees with the quarantine but that “logistically, from the moment we arrived in Dublin Airport it was a bit of a shambles”.

“I just think there needs to be a little bit more logical, open mindedness about the situation here,” Jennings said.

He left the hotel earlier this afternoon after 3pm.

Until Friday, Israel was on the list of countries that passengers travelling from are required to quarantine in a hotel after arriving in Ireland. 

Israel, Albania, and St Lucia were removed from the list after a Cabinet meeting.

16 new countries, including the United States, France, Belgium and Italy were added to the list.

Passengers coming from those countries will be required to book into mandatory quarantine if they arrive after 4am on Thursday, 15 April.

The mandatory hotel quarantine lasts a minimum of ten days and can be extended if the traveller tests positive while they are isolating.

Leaving the hotel without authorisation or resisting the quarantine period are criminal offences that can carry a fine of up to €2,000 and/or one month’s imprisonment.

Before Israel was removed from the list, citizens questioned why the country was on the list when a large proportion of its population has been vaccinated.

With reporting by Stephen McDermott and Press Association