FROM TODAY, PEOPLE arriving into Ireland will be required to fill out a mandatory Passenger Locator Form detailing where they will be staying.

The temporary measure is intended to help contact tracing teams find an individual if there was a confirmed or suspected case of Covid-19 on the flight or ferry on which they arrived. 

The form can also be used for follow-up checks to ensure that people are staying where they said they would be. People arriving into Ireland are being asked to self-isolate for 14 days but a failure to do so is not an offence. 

A failure to fill out the form is an offence however and is punishable by a fine of up to €2,500 or a six month jail term.

The requirement to fill out the form does not apply to people arriving from Northern Ireland, nor does it apply to diplomats or to people defined as being from essential supply chain roles. 

People transiting through the Ireland without leaving the port or airport will not be also required to complete the form.

“This is a temporary measure that is being introduced in a time of a public health crisis,” Minister for Health Simon Harris said of today’s new law. 

The government is concerned that as we move towards the easing of measures, the risk of importing new cases through non-essential travel increases. The introduction of these rules is aimed to limit this risk. We continue to advise Irish citizens and residents against all non-essential international travel, and passengers arriving into Ireland from overseas are asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

As well as a requirement to fill out the form, it is also an office to provide information that is misleading or to update the residence if it changes during the 14 day period. 

Last night, chief medical officer Dr. Tony Holohan rejected a claim by Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary that the 14 day self-isolation period had “no basis in science or in health”.  

When asked at today’s Covid-19 briefing whether that was true Holohan replied: “no”.

Ryanair is to start operating almost 1,000 flights a day from 1 July and has said it will put a number of health measures in place, including the requirement for all passengers to wear face masks.