In Ireland there are more than 500,000 foreign residents, most of us have jobs here, we pay taxes, we have houses and contribute to the economy. It is reasonable for us to travel to our home country to see our families and friends, and then follow the public health advice when we return to Ireland. Also the Irish families linked to the Irish diaspora are heavily impacted (2ML Irish living abroad).

We have heard countless dramatic stories on the news of people coming back to Ireland after grieving the loss of a loved one, or after a medical treatment, and having to endure a two-weeks forced isolation in a hotel room. There were people travelling with kids, and people experiencing financial hardship using all their savings to pay for the hotel and missing workdays (and potentially facing negative consequences because of that). 

NOTHING OF THIS IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH!

 

Looking after public health is in the best interest of foreigners who live in Ireland: most people want to collaborate! If it is true that some people travelling into the country may not comply with the rules, the same can be said for people who are already in Ireland. Restrictions must be reasonable and fair in order to have people on board and ensure citizens trust the authorities. 

 

Whoever has a place of residence / a house in Ireland should be able to quarantine at home after travelling, with further checks in place to ensure compliance if needed. An efficient contact tracing system, stricter checks on home quarantine would be a much better approach creating a sense of solidarity rather than division in society.

 

Imported cases have been in low numbers (around 2%), whereas the majority of Covid infections are due to community transmission. Airplanes are much more controlled environments than LOCAL public transport, as passengers need to have negative tests, fill out passenger locator forms and undergo temperature checks in order to board a plane. If an Irish citizen take a bus within Ireland none of this is required; yet since May 10th everybody can travel all over the country as domestic restrictions are lifted, but we still cannot leave the State without an essential reason and when we come back we may have to endure hotel quarantine.

 

The Irish Council of Civil Liberties has raised serious concerns regarding human rights, as mandatory hotel quarantine is a form of detention without trial. As per the Constitution, detention must be used a last resort, only  when other strategies have been already explored and have proven not successful: https://www.iccl.ie/news/iccl-calls-for-end-to-mandatory-quarantine-if-rights-issues-not-addressed/?fbclid=IwAR2S-R6ZBgm7OFebf4SrTKL-gQUa4x-0Zk_D8aqVZ9KGgAYC2zKqUe2VsKk

 

- The European Commission has raised concerns around this policy in the context of EU law. As per above, any restriction or suspension of freedom of movement within European Union must be proportionate and non-discriminatory. The EU Commission has  released on April 16th a statement saying that they believe Ireland could achieve the aim of protecting public health with much less restrictive measures: https://twitter.com/ChristianWigand/status/1383018851831586819  The Commission has also asked more information about the criteria used to add or remove countries from the list of designated States, and has written a letter to Ireland which counts as the formal start of a pre-infringement procedure: https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0416/1210274-coronavirus-ireland-quarantine/

 

Moreover the Irish economy needs to recover urgently through international travel and tourism:

the proposed EU Covid travel pass covers: test, vaccine status, proof of recovery.

If at least one of the three conditions are met, EU residents will be entitled to receive it.

ENSURE Ireland is ready to join the scheme as soon as possible in July, and to NOT wait the full 6 weeks phasing-in period. It is now time to facilitate the resumption of freedom of movement, especially within the EU where the epidemiological situation is rapidly improving.

Sign and share this petition and before the Dáil discuss the Emergency Measures on May 28th, please identify your local TDs (no matter if you are not a voter in Ireland yet) at the link  https://www.whoismytd.com/ and write to them using the template https://yopad.eu/p/MHQ-365days