Eamon Ryan says “people need to go on holidays” as aviation “on track” for 19 July reopening

"We need to get away from this whole shaming thing that maybe occurred last summer."

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said that we need to get away from "shaming" as the EU Digital Green Covid Certificate is still "on track" for a 19 July rollout in Ireland. Speaking on Newstalk's The Hard Shoulder on Monday he said that there is a need to "restore connectivity" and stop "blaming all sorts of different people" for the impact of Covid-19. “We need to allow Irish people to meet their families and also people on business need to fly - to travel and meet their customers and so on - and people need to go on holidays," he said. “But we have to do it safely and the Covid cert will help that. We need to get away from this whole shaming thing that maybe occurred last summer, where we start blaming all sorts of different people for what is happening with the virus. “We are going to see an increase in cases, people know this now from that advice we got from NPHET last week. The Delta variant is going to cause an increase in cases. “The real question is can we manage it in a way where our hospitalisation rates are still manageable and I am confident we will be able to.” He added that Ireland is still on track to reopen aviation, however, there is a need to "be careful" and "monitor" the situation. “Covid does not do certainty. It is constantly changing but at the moment we are on track to reopen aviation on the 19. To see the certs in place," he said. “We will still have to be careful, we will still have to monitor it, we will still be cautious because I think that is the appropriate public health approach, but that reconnecting of families and reconnecting the island is an important part of reopening and that is on track.” The EU Digital Green Certificate will allow people to travel anywhere in the EU provided they can prove they have been fully vaccinated, recovered from Covid-19, or have a negative Covid-19 PCR test. While the pass came into effect throughout Europe last week, it won't be implemented in Ireland until 19 July due to delays caused by the HSE cyber attack.