Call for reform of testing and travel regime to facilitate international flights

An Oireachtas committee report is set to press for significant reform of the testing and travel regime, amid growing concerns over the future of the aviation sector as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The transport committee will on Wednesday publish a report on the sector and call for a range of reforms, including an enhanced role for antigen – or saliva – testing in facilitating travel.

A draft copy of the committee’s report, seen by The Irish Times, also calls for the introduction of relaxed rules for those coming from territories deemed “red” under the EU’s traffic light system, including the waiving of a requirement to self-isolate when passengers can produce a negative test from their departure country taken three days prior to leaving.

It also calls on Government to subsidise the more expensive “gold standard” PCR tests currently used for travel, so that no passenger will have to pay more than €50. The committee found that the level of follow-up checks on the passenger locator form is “totally inadequate”.

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The draft report also calls for enhanced State supports for the sector, a strategy to increase levels of international travel next year, and urges Government to seek an exemption from State aid rules so it can support airports with emergency funding, as well as the extension of the employment wage subsidy scheme for the sector through 2021.

Acceleration

The final version of the draft report, which was still subject to changes, will be published on Wednesday. It calls for the acceleration of validation studies on the use of antigen testing, and recommends that Government commit to using the tests at airports where they are validated to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria.

It also calls for the inclusion of the aviation industry on the HSE’s antigen working group, and that testing requirements should not be limited to a single type of test. It calls for the introduction of a traffic light system for non-EU countries.

The draft also finds that liquidity supports should be given to companies which had strong balance sheets at the outset of the pandemic, and says a State airports authority for Dublin, Shannon and Cork should be re-established.

Separately, the State's Covid vaccine taskforce is set for talks with the data protection watchdog over its plans to track delivery of the immunisation programme across the population. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has previously said the HSE is working on a project to procure a National Immunisation Information System (NIIS), as the Republic does have a single integrated national immunisation database. Mr Donnelly has said interim options will be considered for the rollout of the Covid vaccine, if needed.

Meeting

A Government spokesman said the Data Protection Commissioner will be meeting with the taskforce, which he said is “standard procedure to ensure data is protected during the immunisation rollout”.

Labour Party leader Alan Kelly, who raised the database issue in the Dáil on Tuesday, said he was "very surprised" these meetings are only taking place this week. "We literally have no database to store this information and continuously mine to ensure best rollout and continuous updating. This may also need some form of emergency legislation," Mr Kelly said.

It comes as the death of one further Covid-19 patient was reported on Tuesday by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet). This brings to 2,097 the total number of deaths in the pandemic. Nphet also reported 215 confirmed cases of the virus, taking the total number of cases to 74,682.

There were 210 Covid-19 patients in hospital, including 31 in ICU.

The 14-day national incidence of the disease now stands at 80.2 cases per 100,000 people. Donegal and Kilkenny are again the counties with the highest incidence, while Leitrim has the lowest.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: "While each of us awaits our opportunity to be vaccinated, it is important that we continue to protect each other in the meantime, particularly over Christmas and in the months ahead."