The Government has signed off on strict new mandatory quarantine measures for all arrivals from 20 countries into Dublin Airport.
The quarantine measures will come into effect in March for people arriving from Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Austria and 17 African countries.
The African countries include:
- Angola
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Cape Verde
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Eswatini
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
It will also apply to any passengers who arrive into Dublin Airport without a negative COVID test.
Anyone who arrives from these countries must stay at designated hotels for up to 14 days.
It is agreed they will have to pay for their stay and must take a number of tests for the virus during that time.
Private security firms are likely to run the facilities and Gardai are to get involved if any laws are breached.
But opposition TDs argue that the legislation is “full of holes” as it only applies to certain countries.
They highlight that there are different COVID-19 variants present in other countries that are not on the list.
But for any country on the list, breaching this mandatory quarantine will result in a €4,000 fine or one month in prison for the first offence.
The second offence will result in a fine of €4,500 and /or one month in prison.
The third offence is a €5,000 fine and/or six months in prison.
The legislation is expected to be brought before the Dail and the Seanad next week, it is likely to take two to three weeks to pass all stages in the Oireachtas.
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