Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Restrictions upon Travel to the State from Certain States) Regulations 2021

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 3/2021
• Year: 2021

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 12th January, 2021.

I, STEPHEN DONNELLY, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me 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 Transport, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Justice,

hereby make the following regulations:

Citation, commencement and operation

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Restrictions upon Travel to the State from Certain States) Regulations 2021.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 9th day of January 2021 and shall have effect for the period beginning on that day and ending on the 31st day of January 2021.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations -

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

“exempted traveller” means -

(a) a person -

(i) who -

(I) holds a valid annex 3 certificate in accordance with the Communication from the Commission on the implementation of the Green Lanes under the Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services1 , or

(II) is a driver of a heavy goods vehicle, and

(ii) who arrives in the State in the course of performing his or her duties,

(b) an aircraft pilot, other aircrew, maritime master or maritime crew who arrives in the State in the course of performing his or her duties,

(c) a person who -

(i) travels to the State from a relevant state, or as part of a continuous journey that began in a relevant state, in circumstances where it is impossible for the person to secure a relevant test result before so travelling, and

(ii) is in possession of written confirmation from the Minister for Foreign Affairs that the person has an urgent humanitarian reason for so travelling,

(d) a person who arrives at a port or airport in the State for the purposes of travelling to another state, and who does not leave the port or airport before so travelling,

(e) a person who travels to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation, or

(f) a person who -

(i) travels to the State in the course of performing his or her duties, and

(ii) is a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of the Minister for Justice;

“Great Britain”, for the purposes of these Regulations -

(a) includes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and

(b) does not include Northern Ireland;

“relevant person” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 3;

“relevant state” means a state, country, territory, region or other place specified in the Schedule;

“relevant test result”, in relation to a person, means any record or evidence, in written or other electronic form, confirming that -

(a) the person has been subject to a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, the purpose of which is to detect the presence of Covid-19, or the virus SARS-CoV-2, in the person,

(b) such test was administered to the person no more than 72 hours before the person arrives in the State, and

(c) Covid-19, or the virus SARS-CoV-2, was not detected in the person at the time of taking the test;

“relevant traveller” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 4.

Relevant Persons

3. Officers of the Minister for Justice, being immigration officers appointed by that Minister under section 3 of the Immigration Act 2004 (No. 1 of 2004) (each of whom, in these Regulations, is referred to as a “relevant person”) are specified as relevant persons for the purposes of these Regulations.

Relevant traveller

4. (1) In these Regulations, “relevant traveller” means a person who -

(a) is not an exempted traveller, and

(b) subject to paragraph (2), arrives in the State -

(i) from a relevant state, or

(ii) from a state other than a relevant state as part of a continuous journey that began in a relevant state.

(2) A person who arrives in the State from a relevant state, or as part of a continuous journey that began in a relevant state, shall...