IRELAND’S GREEN LIST, which sets out the countries and territories people can travel from into Ireland without restricting their movements for 14 days, has now gone over a month without being updated – despite a significant shift in epidemiological data. 

According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Ireland’s 14-day incidence rate is 29.6 per 100,000 – a figure that puts the country above the UK, Germany and Poland. 

None of these countries are on the Green List, which hasn’t been updated since 4 August despite the government stressing that “inclusion on the list is based on the current epidemiological situation and related public health information in each location”.

The rates, compiled by the ECDC, puts the UK at 25.7 and Germany on 17.9. Poland is at 23.3. 

The list, mired in controversy when originally published due to conflicting government messaging on the safety of travel, has undergone only minor revisions since then.

At the start of August Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar, San Marino and Monaco were all dropped from the Green List following a rise in Covid-19 cases. 

Criticism of the list has started to grow, with one prominent GP describing it as “abandoned”. 

With the Green List already the subject of questioning from medical and political figures, the latest ECDC figures will only raise further concerns about the sustainability of the system into the future. 

Earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that there would not be revisions to the Green List until the new roadmap is published this month. 

The 14-day restriction of movement guidelines for those travelling into Ireland may also be scrapped under a new government roadmap for re-opening the country. 

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Meanwhile, the European Commission appears intent on harmonising travel related measures across the EU, proposing a new set of recommendations that would smooth over some of the differences in travel-related restrictions between member states. 

Currently, restrictions, rules and regulations vary between countries. However, there is growing pressure from the EU for a more joined-up approach as the countries try to resume some element of normality while living alongside the virus.