It is currently a criminal offence to leave mandatory quarantine without authorisation.
More than 70 people from red-listed countries have fled from mandatory hotel quarantine since the system was implemented.
The system was put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 variants in the country, and now it has been revealed that 75 people have left the mandatory quarantine with only 24 returning "voluntarily" after Gardaí intervened.
The Sunday Times also reported on Sunday that more than a dozen people left their hotel without permission in the last week alone.
Over 60 countries are currently on the country’s mandatory hotel quarantine list, with travellers from these countries, other than exempted travellers, required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility and present for quarantine on arrival.
Pre-payment is required and people are also required to stay in the facilities for 14 days.
However, if you receive a negative (‘not detected’) result from an RT-PCR test taken on day 10, your quarantine will come to an end on receipt of those results. Quarantine can also be extended if you test positive for Covid-19.
The vast majority of states on the red-list are countries in Africa, Asia, and South America with just two European countries currently on the list (Russia and Turkey).
It is currently a criminal offence for a person to leave mandatory quarantine without authorisation after legislation to extend the system until 31 July was recently passed by Government.
Leaving the quarantine earlier than permitted can see people fined up to €2,000, face a month of jail time, or both.
