The booking portal for mandatory hotel quarantine is now live and ready to take those traveling from high-risk countries from Friday. The details are available here: https://t.co/5CQTBt83sX
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) March 23, 2021
Hotel quarantine will come into effect as and from Friday morning, with impending passengers set to book and pay for their stay in advance.
The new mandatory hotel quarantine system will be the ‘most robust‘ in the EU according to the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly who is its greatest advocate.
The Government launched a booking portal, for all arrivals from 33 ‘high-risk‘ countries.
The Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel in Santry is the first facility up-and-running, with Tifco Hotel Group operating the new system.
A 12-night stay in a quarantine hotel will cost €1,875 for one adult, with lower rates for additional adults or children sharing a room.
Defence Forces personnel will be deployed to help support the system, and anyone who leaves hotel quarantine early will face a fine of up to €2,000.
Today’s announcement comes after widespread criticism from opposition parties about the delayed rollout of the new system, but Minister Donnelly is standing firm today despite criticism.
“Ireland is the first country in the EU doing anything at this level. This is by my count around the sixth biosecurity measure we have in place at our border.
“It is the most comprehensive hotel quarantine system in the EU by a mile.
“Importantly, it also lines the UK and Ireland up – Ireland and the UK now have some of the lowest rates of COVID in Europe, and by having a system that is closely aligned… it also goes someway towards addressing Northern Ireland.”
The countries on the Irish government’s “high risk” list are:
Angola, Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guiana, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
