The US will not be on the list and it’s unlikely the UK will be on it either.
The government ‘Green List’ for travel to other countries is expected to be published this evening at the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting.
The list had been due to be published on Monday, but was deferred due to Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s presence at the EU summit in Brussels.
It had been feared that Martin’s return from Brussels would delay the publication of the list beyond Tuesday evening (21 July), but that is not likely to be the case.
Under current guidelines, people travelling to Ireland are supposed to self-quarantine for two weeks before rejoining the community.
They’re also required to fill out a form with contact details as well as information about where they’ve come from and where they plan to isolate in Ireland.
But the ‘Green List’ will mean people that travel to those countries for essential reasons will not have to self-isolate for 14 days upon return.
However, there has been some criticism of mixed messages from the government and health officials.
Speaking on Newstalk’s On The Record with Gavan Reilly, Dr Cillian De Gascun, the Chair of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group, admitted that there is potential for some confusion considering the public health advice is not to travel overseas while the government is releasing a ‘Green List’ at the same time.
Dr De Gascun said: “There is a risk that [having a ‘Green List’] could lead to some confusion and leave people with mixed messages and we’re hearing that now from some members of the general public.
“It would be nicer and clearer if there was just a straightforward message that people could just buy into.”
Last week, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said the US would not be on the ‘Green List’ and that it was “very unlikely” the UK would be on the list either.
“I think it’s very unlikely our closest neighbour either will be under that threshold that we set,” he said.
“That’s really unfortunate, because the two countries we would like to be opening up to in terms of international travel are the UK and US, given the integration between our economy and those two countries.”
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