Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
THE TAOISEACH HAS told the Dáil the government has made proposals to the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to bring forward the easing of some restrictions.
He said: “We have made proposals to the Chief Medical Officer and NPHET about bringing things forward from [phases] four to three and three to two.
“NPHET is considering the proposals and Government will make a decision on that on Friday morning and inform the public of the decision on Friday afternoon.”
He said from the outset, he has always said that the roadmap “is a living plan that can be accelerated if we are getting on top of and ahead of the virus”.
However, he added that one thing the government will stick with is the three-week intervals between each phase. They are there for good epidemiological reasons, he said.
“If one relaxes restrictions and the virus spreads, incubates and is tested for and so on it will be at least two weeks before that shows up in the data. We believe we should stick with the three-week intervals,” he said, pointing out that there are differing opinions between the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Control as to whether the intervals should be between two and four weeks.
“Three weeks makes sense because we need to know that if we ease restrictions they have not caused the virus to take off again. It is only after two weeks, and into the third week, before we can know that so we will stick with the three-week window – but we can bring measures forward,” he said.
On the government’s proposals to move some things forward, the Taoiseach said NPHET would consider the proposals, and a decision on the matter would be made by Cabinet on Friday morning.
In recent days, there has been speculation that the 20km limit could be lifted earlier than Phase 4. However, yesterday Health Minister Simon Harris was cautious about tinkering with the travel guidelines, saying that there is a reason for the restrictions.
“Some parts of our country haven’t seen a case in weeks and if we all start getting in our cars and travelling there tomorrow” there is a risk of spread, he said.
He said the strategy is based on people keeping close to their home, “and then gradually, gradually” over the course of the summer the distance will increase.
Harris said opening things too fast would risk spreading the virus to other parts of the country. The minister said that Phase 2 looked right to him in its current form.
Advertisement
Speaking on the issue today in the Dáil, the Taoiseach also seemed to pour cold water over the prospect of the lifting of the 20km rule on Monday.
He said he did not agree with people who say the 5km rule or the 20km rule do not make sense.
“If we had not had those rules in place in recent weeks we would have seen people from Dublin and Cork travelling to counties where there are no new cases and there would have been new cases in those counties.
“I totally disagree with people who are arguing that the 20km rule has no scientific basis or is not a good idea. It is a good idea and that is the travel limit that will apply in phase 2,” he said.
‘We are in an absurd situation’
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has spoken out against the travel distance guideline, saying that he does not see the justification for it.
Speaking today in the Dáil, he indicated that travelling within Ireland is now more difficult than travelling abroad.
“We are currently in the absurd situation where it is easier for an Irish person to plan a holiday in much of Europe than it is to plan one here.
“A range of countries this week signalled their intention to be ready to quickly lift travel restrictions and their tourist industries have begun working on the assumption that travel from Ireland will be possible without quarantine before the high-season,” he said.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has also argued for the early lifting of the 20km rule as it would help boost local tourism.
The Taoiseach was also asked about testing being carried out at airports and ports, indicating that passengers would have to pay for a test upon arrival.
“We will examine the issue of Covid-19 testing in airports and ports but it costs €200 a go so the person getting tested will have to pay for it,” he said.
The move would be similar to that in Austria, where if travellers don’t have proof of not being infected by the virus, they can pay €190 for a test at Vienna airport.
Items that are due to be included in Phase 2 are the easing of nursing home visitor restrictions, help for children with special needs, as well as the possibility of some summer camps being given the green light to open.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
57 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'A stain on society': Homelessness hits another record of 15,286 people in emergency accommodation
Updated
21 mins ago
3.9k
Fighter Planes
Simon Harris is 'convinced' that Ireland needs its own squadron of fighter jets
Niall O'Connor
Reports from The Curragh Camp
5 mins ago
17
New Mexico
Police 'keeping everything on the table' in deaths of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa
Updated
17 hrs ago
103k
78
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 153 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 105 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 137 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 39 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 97 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 69 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 51 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 85 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 65 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say