Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Restrictions upon Travel to the State from Certain States) (No. 4) Regulations 2021

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 44/2021
• Year: 2021

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 9th February, 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, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media,

hereby make the following regulations:

Part 1

Preliminary and general

Citation, revocation, 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) (No. 4) Regulations 2021.

(2) The Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Restrictions upon Travel to the State from Certain States) (No. 3) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 39 of 2021) are revoked.

(3) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 6th day of February 2021 and shall have effect for the period beginning on that day and ending on the 5th day of March 2021.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations -

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

“category 1 state” means a relevant state that is not a category 2 state;

“category 2 state” means a relevant state specified in the Schedule;

“Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form” means -

(a) a Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form within the meaning of the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 45 of 2021), or

(b) where the context so requires, a Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form within the meaning of the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 181 of 2020 );

“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 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,

(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, the Defence Forces or an officer of the Minister for Justice,

(g) a person who travels to the State for unavoidable, imperative and time-sensitive medical reasons, or

(h) a person who, having been outside the State to provide services to, or perform the functions of -

(i) an office holder appointed under any enactment or under the Constitution, or

(ii) a member of either House of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament or a local authority,

is required to travel to the State in order to continue providing such services, or performing such functions as the case may be;

“international organisation” means -

(a) an organisation, and subordinate bodies of an organisation, governed by public international law, or

(b) any other body that is established by, or on the basis of, an agreement between 2 or more states;

“place of residence” means -

(a) in relation to a person who is ordinarily resident in the State -

(i) the home in which the person ordinarily resides,

or

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

(b) in relation to a person who is not ordinarily resident in the State, the premises in the State, if any, at which he or she is currently residing or intends to reside after arriving in the State, whether on a permanent or temporary basis;

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

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

“relevant state” means any state, country, territory, region or other place outside the State, other than Northern Ireland;

“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 RT-PCR test,

(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;

“responsible adult” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 7;

“RT-PCR test” means a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test, the purpose of which is to detect the presence of Covid-19, or the virus SARS-CoV-2, in the person to whom it is administered;

“travel organiser” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 8.

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. In these Regulations, “relevant traveller” means a person who -

(a) is not an exempted traveller, and

(b) arrives in the State after having been in a relevant state in the period of 14 days prior to the date on which he or she so arrives.

Provision of certain information or documentation relating to travel

5. (1) A relevant traveller shall -

(a) on arrival in the State, where the relevant traveller arrives in the State at a port or airport -

(i) present himself or herself to a relevant person, and

(ii) give or otherwise make available a relevant test result to the relevant person, or

(b) where the relevant traveller arrives in the State other than at a port or airport, or at a port or airport in which there is no relevant person -

(i) retain a relevant test result relating to himself or herself for a period of 14 days after so arriving, and

(ii) give or otherwise make available the relevant test result to a relevant person or a member of the Garda Síochána when requested to do so by such person or member.

(2) Where a relevant person or member of the Garda Síochána considers it necessary to do so, he or she may request a person, on the person’s arrival in the State or as soon as practicable thereafter, to provide or make available to the relevant person such information or documentation as the relevant person or member of the Garda Síochána may reasonably require in order to ascertain whether or not the person -

(a) has a relevant test result,

(b) is a relevant traveller,

(c) is an exempted traveller, or

(d) has been in a category 1 state or a category 2 state in the period of 14 days prior to the date on which he or she arrives in the State.

(3) A person shall comply with a request under paragraph (2).

(4) Paragraphs (1) and (3) are penal provisions for the purposes of section 31A of the Act of 1947.

Specification of category 2 state

6. (1) The Minister may -

(a) having been advised by the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health that a variant of concern in a relevant state means that significant public health risks are posed by the arrival of persons in the State from that relevant state, and

(b) after consulting the Minister for Foreign Affairs,

specify in writing that a relevant state is a category 2 state.

(2) A specification under paragraph (1) shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be published on a website maintained by the Minister or by the Government.

(3) In this Regulation, “variant of concern” means a variant of Covid-19 that, in the view of the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health, were it to enter the State or having entered the State become more widespread in the State, would present -

(a) serious risks to preventing, limiting, minimising or slowing the spread of Covid-19 in the State, or

(b) other serious public health risks.

Part 2

Obligations relating to pre-travel Covid-19 tests

Obligations on relevant travellers

7. (1) A relevant traveller who is 18 years of age or older shall not travel to the State without having a relevant test result.

(2) A relevant traveller who -

(a) is more than 7 years of age and less than 18 years of age, and

(b) is not accompanied by a responsible adult,

shall not travel to the State without having a relevant test result.

(3) A person shall ensure that a relevant traveller in respect of whom he...