Gardaí will be undertaking a series of house checks this weekend on people who have recently entered the State and who have been reported to them “as not engaging” with the Department of Health’s Covid-19 quarantine process for arrivals.
All passengers arriving into the Republic’s airports and ports from overseas must provide evidence on arrival of a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test carried out no more than 72 hours earlier.
A legal requirement to quarantine was also introduced for all such arrivals earlier this month. If a passenger arrives from one of 33 high-risk countries for Covid-19, they are subject to a 14-day quarantine at the address recorded on their passenger locator form regardless of the PCR test result.
For passengers arriving from all other countries, the quarantine period can finish earlier, if the passenger obtains a negative result in a Covid-19 PCR test taken no less than five days after arrival in the State.
To date, detectives in the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) have already conducted house calls in relation to people who entered the State without the required Covid-19 PCR test result.
‘Health and safety’
"The health and safety of Garda personnel is a key priority for the organisation and has been throughout the pandemic," An Garda Síochána said in a statement on Saturday on house checks.
It is an offence not to comply with the public health regulations in question and passengers who do not comply may be subject to prosecution, punishable by a fine not exceeding €2,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both.
Where gardaí determine there has been a breach, a file will be submitted to the DPP for directions in each case.
“To ensure the accuracy of data provided on this matter, An Garda Síochána will progressively provide data relating to the progress of these checks from the middle of next week,” the force added.
