Ministers’ game of ‘pass the parcel’ over responsibility for follow up calls to incoming passengers is putting the country at risk of further Covid-19 clusters, according to Róisín Shortall TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats.
During health questions in today’s Dáil, Deputy Shortall said:
“It is absolutely indefensible that only 3.5% of incoming passengers through Dublin Airport are actually receiving and answering follow up calls. In a Dáil reply to me this week, the Minister for Justice said the responsibility for passenger follow up falls to the Minister for Health, yet the Minister for Health today stated that it’s the responsibility of the Minister for Transport.
“The numbers coming into Ireland’s airports are increasing rapidly, and it’s important that there is absolute clarity about which department and Minister is responsible for implementing adequate controls. Playing ‘pass the parcel’ and suggesting that a handover is happening in the future is simply not good enough.
“The priority has to be to open our schools and domestic business, and these delays and shirking of responsibility are putting public health and our recovery in jeopardy.”
July 24, 2020