Covid tests at Dublin Airport stepped up
PASSENGERS travelling to Ireland may have to undergo a Covid-19 test before they depart, transport officials have said.
Ken Spratt, acting secretary general at the Department of Transport, said officials are ramping up measures to monitor people arriving here.
He admitted that some measures have not been as effective as hoped, including the follow-up calls to people travelling into Dublin Airport.
He said the passenger locator form is being moved online and passengers will be required to complete it within 48 hours of their departure date.
‘We are also are putting in place a call centre which will follow up on all of the passenger locator forms that are completed,’ he told the Special Committee on Covid19 Response.
‘That should enable us to follow up in a more robust and rigorous way,’ he said.
‘It is the case that we believe more could be done and we are giving consideration to potentially introducing testing at departure point. Testing is already in place [in Dublin Airport], particularly where symptoms are presenting.’
He said that officials will be able to identify and authenticate people filling out the passenger locator form.
He also said the call centre is due to be operational by August 10.
‘We would like to increase the soft pressure at the point of departure, where airlines, at time of booking and departure, would ensure that people coming in from countries that are not on the green list, would be made aware of the need for them to restrict their movements when they arrive,’ he told the committee.
Fintan Towey, assistant secretary at the department, said they are considering introducing additional checks and controls at airports and ports. He said: ‘Our colleagues have looked at terminal screening and temperature controls, but also other tests in relation to the virus, either at point of departure or arrival. If it were possible to have a conclusive test, that would be a measure we could take, but the type of testing available doesn’t provide that level of assurance. ‘Tests can produce a false negative result and that presents a false sense of security and increases risk of virus transmission.’ Meanwhile, representatives from public transport and taxi services have criticised the National Transport Authority (NTA) and the Government for issuing ‘vague’ guidelines.
Gerry Macken, spokesman for Taxi Alliance of Ireland, said that taxi drivers have received ‘no assurances’ about passengers wearing face coverings.
‘The only ones we have in relation to our own safety is refusing customers where we think it might cause altercations,’ he told the committee.
‘The last thing we want is to face altercations over a lack of Government advice. We have no legal standing in relation to the mandatory wearing of face masks in taxis or any small public service vehicle, which is a total disgrace.’
Jim Waldron, spokesman for the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, said 26,000 qualified drivers have been ‘overlooked’ and are not being properly supported during the pandemic.
He said: ‘We have very vague guidelines and as for masks, there has been no advice given. We’ve been told we can tell people to sit in the backseat but that is the only thing we have been told. ‘We do feel let down by the NTA. ‘There’s no nighttime business, the nightclubs are not open, 82% of drivers worked on a Friday, 16% worked late in the evenings and that work is gone.
‘That’s a major problem. Most of the drivers who went on to the Covid payment are still on it.
‘It’s allowing them to survive, but it’s not paying the bills.’
He said that the restart grant is not enough to cover insurance costs alone.
‘If we don’t get the grants and supports we’ll be going back to the old days where people waited 40 minutes standing in a taxi rank,’ he told the members.