SAFETY FIRST
»»Varadkar: Ireland can’t close itself off indefinitely
LEO Varadkar would like to see a return to international travel as soon as it is safe to do so and said Ireland cannot close itself off indefinitely.
Current advice states to avoid non-essential travel and the Tanaiste stressed those guidelines were still in place.
He said: “The current travel advice, however, has not changed and that is to avoid non-essential travel.”
A “green list” of countries is still set to be published by the Government next week in coordination with the
European
Union but Mr Varadkar cautioned it will be subject to change and will be updated every two weeks.
For people who travel to the countries that are on the green list, the 14-day quarantine will not apply.
The Tanaiste said: “Speaking as Minister for Employment and Trade, I would certainly like to see a return to international travel as soon as that is safe.
“I am also conscious of the fact thousands of people work in the domestic tourism sector and in our airports and airlines.
“I’m also conscious that people have worked very hard over the past few months and are forward to a break but it has to be done safely.
“Ireland has been very successful in getting the number of new coronavirus cases down to less than 20. Not that many countries around the world have done that.
“We have to be smart about the fact if we open our country to areas where the virus is still circulating and virulent, then that does run the risk of re-importation.
“At the same time we all know we can’t cut off the country forever. We can’t stop people from visiting their friends and families. We can’t stop business executives coming into Ireland to create jobs so we need to get that balance right.”
Mr Varadkar added a Cabinet sub-committee will take place in the next few days on the issue of travel.
A recommendation will be brought to the Cabinet this Monday to give clarity to people who want to book holidays.
Earlier this week, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said people should cancel their foreign holidays as it risks importing cases of coronalooking