Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 2) Regulations 2020

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 206/2020
• Year: 2020

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 9th June, 2020.

The Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 5 and 31A (inserted by section 10 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1 of 2020)) of the Health Act 1947 (No. 28 of 1947) and -

(a) having regard to the immediate, exceptional and manifest risk posed to human life and public health by the spread of Covid-19 and to the matters specified in subsection (2) of section 31A, and

(b) having consulted with the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation,

hereby makes the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 2) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 8th day of June 2020.

Operation of Regulations

2. These Regulations shall remain in operation until the 29th day of June 2020.

Revocation

3. The Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 121 of 2020 ) are revoked.

Definitions

4. In these Regulations -

“Act of 1947” means the Health Act 1947 (No. 28 of 1947);

“Act of 2001” means the Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37 of 2001);

“applicable person” means a person whose place of residence is located within a relevant geographical location;

“permitted outlet” means an outlet of a type specified in Schedule 1;

“place of residence”, in relation to an applicable person, means -

(a) the home in which the person is currently residing, or

(b) if the person does not have a home or is not residing in his or her home, such other premises, if any, at which he or she is currently residing, whether on a permanent or temporary basis.

“relevant geographical location” means a geographical location to which an affected areas order applies.

Restriction of movement of applicable persons in relation to exercise and social or recreational purposes

5. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), an applicable person shall not engage or otherwise participate in relevant activities outside his or her place of residence (in this Regulation referred to as the “relevant residence”).

(2) An applicable person may, within the county in which the relevant residence is situated or in another county provided the person is within a 20 kilometre radius of the relevant residence -

(a) exercise outdoors alone,

(b) exercise outdoors -

(i) with other persons residing in the relevant residence,

(ii) with a maximum of 14 other persons who do not reside in the relevant residence, or

(iii) with a maximum of 14 other persons, where one or more such other persons resides in the relevant residence and one or more of such other persons does not so reside,

(c) go out alone for recreational purposes,

(d) gather together indoors for social or recreational purposes -

(i) with other persons residing in the relevant residence,

(ii) with a maximum of 5 other persons who do not reside in the relevant residence, or

(iii) with a maximum of 5 other persons, where one or more of such other persons resides in the relevant residence and one or more of such other persons does not so reside, or

(e) gather together outdoors for social or recreational purposes -

(i) with other persons residing in the relevant residence,

(ii) with a maximum of 14 other persons who do not reside in the relevant residence, or

(iii) with a maximum of 14 other persons, where one or more of such other persons resides in the relevant residence and one or more of such other persons does not so reside.

(3) An applicable person may visit the place of residence of a vulnerable person for social or recreational purposes and gather together in that place of residence for such purposes with the vulnerable person and a maximum of 4 other persons.

(4) An applicable person may engage or otherwise participate in training relating to a sport, where -

(a) the person, in respect of the sport concerned -

(i) is in receipt of financial support provided by Sport Ireland under the scheme commonly known and referred to as the Sport Ireland International Carding Scheme,

(ii) competes at a senior level and is a participant in a high performance training programme of the national governing body of the sport, which body receives, from Sport Ireland, financial support commonly known and referred to as the Sport Ireland High Performance Programme Funding, or

(iii) is a professional sportsperson who receives payment for training and playing the sport under a contract of employment with a soccer club or the rugby football organisation commonly known and referred to as the Irish Rugby Football Union,

(b) the training is supervised by a member of staff of Sport Ireland, a coach or a trainer, and

(c) it is in the best interests of the ongoing improvement, maintenance or enhancement of the person’s performance in that sport to undergo such training.

(5) In this Regulation –

“county”, subject to paragraph (6), has the same meaning as it has in section 10 (amended by section 12 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1 of 2014)) of the Act of 2001, being a Local Government Area that is listed as a County in Schedule 5 to the Act of 2001;

“relevant activities” means activities that are engaged or otherwise participated in solely for -

(a) social or recreational purposes, or

(b) the purposes of exercise;

“social or recreational purposes” includes leisure or holiday purposes;

“vulnerable person” means -

(a) a person who normally requires assistance in carrying out his or her daily activities,

(b) a person who, although not normally requiring assistance in carrying out his or her daily activities, requires such assistance because he or she is -

(i) particularly susceptible to the risk posed to health by Covid-19, or

(ii) not in a position to leave his or her place of residence due to reasons related to the spread of Covid-19 or otherwise, or

(c) a child.

(6) For the purposes of these Regulations, a group of Local Government Areas specified in one of the following subparagraphs shall be deemed to be a single county:

(a) Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin and Dublin City;

(b) Cork and Cork City;

(c) Galway and Galway City;

(d) Limerick City and County;

(e) Waterford City and County.

Restriction on events

6. (1) A person shall not organise, or cause to be organised, an event for cultural, entertainment, recreational, sporting, social, community or educational reasons other than –

(a) where one or both of the following applies:

(i) the maximum number of persons attending, or proposed to attend, the event (for whatever reason) does not exceed 15 persons;

(ii) the person organising the event or causing the event to be organised takes all reasonable steps to ensure that the number of persons attending, or proposed to attend, the event (for whatever reason) does not exceed 15 persons, or

(b) where the event is for educational reasons, it is held, or to be held, in a school, university, higher education facility, créche or other registered childcare facility.

(2) Paragraph (1) is a penal provision for the purposes of section 31A of the Act of 1947.

Carrying on or provision of relevant business or service

7. (1) A relevant person shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that members of the public are not...