John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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1970. To ask the Minister for Health if IVF patients that have to travel abroad for treatment are exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine given that IVF treatment is extremely time sensitive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19460/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Mandatory hotel quarantine has been introduced as one element of Ireland’s public health measures to combat the transmission of COVID-19 variants of concern.

The Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act. All applicable travellers must reserve and pay for a place in mandatory hotel quarantine.

Mandatory hotel quarantine is also necessary in circumstances where passengers coming from non-designated states do not provide evidence that they have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before arrival into Ireland.

The provisions of the Act allow for travellers to request a review of decisions relating to their quarantine in a designated facility; however, this can only be undertaken once quarantine has begun.

The Act identifies those who are exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine, and a full list of exemptions can be accessed on gov.ie/quarantine.

Exemptions for medical reasons pertain to a person who travels to the State for an unavoidable, imperative and time sensitive medical reason and that reason is certified by a person who is a registered medical practitioner or a person holding an equivalent qualification outside the State.

The safety, wellbeing and comfort of all guests quarantining in a designated facility is a priority of the mandatory quarantine system, along with protecting people living in Ireland from COVID-19 variants of concern.

All guests undergoing mandatory hotel quarantine have access to a 24/7 on-site healthcare team during their stay. Guests requiring any specific, urgent or emergency care which cannot be provided on-site may also be referred to a dedicated medical facility by the on-site healthcare team.

Neither I as Minister for Health nor my Department have any role in decisions relating to whether individual persons must enter mandatory quarantine or whether individual persons are exempted travellers. All such decisions are to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Act.