Coronavirus: Only 4,100 calls made to check up on 60,000 arrivals to Dublin Airport

Only 4,100 calls were made to check up on 60,000 people arriving at Dublin Airport in the first two weeks of July, figures from the Department of Justice show.

The figures, which were released by the department in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall, show that of the 4,121 calls that were made based on information supplied in the passenger locator form, only 52 per cent were answered.

According to the reply, since the volume of passengers coming through the airport began to increase on July 1st, “BMU [Border Management Unit] is required to concentrate on their core immigration duties”, meaning that the department “awaits handover of this follow-up process to the Department of Health”. However, that transfer is still “outstanding”, the department said.

The figures show that of 61,844 arriving passengers, the BMU took a sample of 6,195. Of that figure, some 1,974 were exempt from follow-up as they were transiting to Northern Ireland, or in the State for less than two days, according to the reply.

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Of the remaining 4,121 who were called, 2,129 were answered.

In response to questions, a spokesman for the Department of Justice confirmed that “no other department or agency has made any of the follow-up calls in relation to the locator forms to date”. Follow-up calls are also being made in respect of other ports of entry, but are not available, the department said. Dublin Airport is the main port of entry for air passengers to the State.

Public confidence

Ms Shortall said the figures show “that less than seven per cent of passengers entering through Dublin Airport in the first two weeks of July received any follow-up call at all, and nearly half of those went unanswered”.

“How can the public have confidence in the Government’s decision on travel when that is the case?” she said.

The percentage of calls being answered also appears to be declining. Figures supplied for passenger arrivals from the end of April to the end of June this year suggest that 64 per cent of of calls were answered, compared to 52 per cent in the most recent figures.

Ms Shortall said the “threat of Covid-19 clusters as a result of foreign travel into Ireland is very real”, which the National Public Health Emergency Team had stated “very clearly” in a letter to Government.

A department spokesman said “everyone arriving into the country, regardless of where they come from, is required to fill out a passenger locator form, which will be put on an electronic basis by August 10th”.

Testing regime

He added that arrangements are also being made for enhanced follow-up procedures, including a call centre and a proposed testing regime for symptomatic passengers at airports and ports.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the BMU and the Garda National Immigration Bureau carry out form collection and spot checks on behalf of health authorities, with the BMU also making follow-up calls.

“Government policy in this area is currently being closely examined and consideration given to the future way of working in relation to this process,” she said.