Unanswered questions around quarantine facility in Rosslare
INDEPENDENT councillor and Chairman of Wexford County Council Ger Carthy has accused the government of ‘ keeping the people of Rosslare in the dark again’ over plans to designate the old Hotel Rosslare building as a mandatory quarantine centre for those entering the country without the relevant Covid-19 paperwork.
The former hotel had been used as an overflow direct provision centre up until March of last year, at which point the residents moved to a new direct provision centre in the old Rosslare Port Lodge Hotel building. Since then it has been vacant, but Cllr Carthy said now plans are in place to use it for travellers entering the country through the Europort who are required to undertake a mandatory 14 day quarantine at their own cost.
‘I think it would only be common courtesy to keep the people of Rosslare and Kilrane informed of what’s going on in their village, good, bad or indifferent,’ he said. ‘Once again it seems that the government is trying to enforce things by stealth. I’ve been informed that Hotel Rosslare is going to be used from a very good authority, but the local authority still knows nothing about these plans.’ Cllr Carthy was critical of how vague the situation seems.
‘We’re talking about a quarantine facility and the wheels are in motion here, but the legislation still hasn’t gone through the Dáil for this,’ he said. ‘We still don’t know is it the Department of Justice or the Department of Foreign Affairs or who is overseeing this? Who will be responsible for the security at the facility etc? There are a lot of unanswered questions here.’
Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne said that it was in actual fact the Department of Health that would be overseeing quarantine facilities and said it should be regarded a positive development.
‘ These people using it would be people who are legally entitled to enter the country, but for health and safety reasons would have to quarantine for a period,’ he said. ‘We’re awaiting exact clarification of how it will work and who will have to quarantine and who won’t. Essential workers like truck drivers and healthcare workers obviously won’t have to quarantine. But it makes complete sense to have the quarantine facility at the closest point of arrival. It wouldn’t make much sense having people travelling 30km.’
‘It’s worth remembering as well that the number of people staying in these quarantine facilities that actually have Covid will be minimal. Ultimately, you’d hope that quarantine would dissuade people from travelling into the country other than when absolutely essential.’
‘However, I would agree with Cllr Carthy that the community down there should be kept fully informed of what’s going on.’