Can we have some fcuking control on the airports from high risk countries please?

Article 40.4.1. No citizen shall be deprived of his personal liberty save in accordance with law. Article 40.4.2. Upon complaint being made by or on behalf of any person to the High Court or any judge thereof alleging that such person is being unlawfully detained, the High Court and any and every judge thereof to whom such complaint is made shall forthwith enquire into the said complaint and may order the person in whose custody such person is detained to produce the body of such person before the High Court on a named day and to certify in writing the grounds of his detention, and the High Court shall, upon the body of such person being produced before that Court and after giving the person in whose custody he is detained an opportunity of justifying the detention, order the release of such person from such detention unless satisfied that he is being detained in accordance with the law. Article 40.4.3. Where the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully detained is produced before the High Court in pursuance of an order in that behalf made under this section and that Court is satisfied that such person is being detained in accordance with a law but that such law is invalid having regard to the provisions of this Constitution, the High Court shall refer the question of the validity of such law to the Supreme Court by way of case stated and may, at the time of such reference or at any time thereafter, allow the said person to be at liberty on such bail and subject to such conditions as the High Court shall fix until the Supreme Court has determined the question so referred to it. Article 40.4.4. The High Court before which the body of a person alleged to be unlawfully detained is to be produced in pursuance of an order in that behalf made under this section shall, if the President of the High Court or, if he is not available, the senior judge of that Court who is available so directs in respect of any particular case, consist of three judges and shall, in every other case, consist of one judge only. 5° Nothing in this section, however, shall be invoked to prohibit, control, or interfere with any act of the Defence Forces during the existence of a state of war or armed rebellion. 6° Provision may be made by law for the refusal of bail by a court to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. 5.

An Act, to make exceptional provision, in the public interest and having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and public health posed by the spread of the disease known as Covid-19 and variants of that disease and in order to mitigate, where practicable, the effect of the spread of that disease; to amend the Health Act 1947to make further and better provision for the enforcement of regulations under section 31A of that Act; to provide for the mandatory quarantine of persons coming into the State from certain areas from where there is known to be sustained human transmission of Covid-19 or any variant of concern, or from which there is a high risk of importation of infection or contamination with Covid-19 or any variant of concern by travel from that area; to provide for the designation of such areas by the Minister; to provide for the mandatory quarantine of persons coming into the State who fail to comply with certain requirements relating to testing for the disease; to provide for the designation of facilities for such quarantine; to provide for the conveying of persons to those facilities; to provide for the making of service agreements to facilitate such quarantine; to provide for alternatives to such quarantine for persons coming into the State where such persons indicate an intention to apply for international protection or where such persons are children who are not accompanied by an adult; and to provide for related matters.


[7th March, 2021]


WHEREAS the disease known as Covid-19, and the emergence of variants of the disease, including VOC202012/01, 501Y.V2 and P.1, with evidence of increased transmissibility and the potential to evade immune response, and the spread of those variants, presents a very serious risk to public health and it is essential that persons testing positive or who are asymptomatic for the disease including in particular, variants of the disease, are detected given that the transmission of the disease has proven difficult to prevent;


WHEREAS travel into the State by persons from certain areas where variants of the disease exist and the spread of any such variants may pose a threat to the effectiveness of some vaccines and affect the programme of vaccination in the State;


WHEREAS the prevalence of the disease and its increased transmissibility is severely


impacting on the health system in the State which is under significant and sustained pressure;


WHEREAS the crisis occasioned by the spread of that disease is causing and will continue to cause significant damage to the economy of the State resulting, thus far, in a substantial increase in the number of persons who have become unemployed and a substantial increase in the national debt;


WHEREAS the restrictive measures imposed on persons in the State for the purposes of preventing situations and behaviours that may lead to further transmission of the disease are many and onerous and it is desired to return to the normal social and economic functioning of society as soon as is practicable;


WHEREAS the European Centre for Disease Control has advised that based on information available, the risks associated with the introduction and spread of variants of the disease means that escalated measures should be considered, including quarantining of travellers and testing during such quarantine;


WHEREAS travel into the State by persons from certain areas with high incidence levels of the disease, variants of the disease or without taking the appropriate test for the disease is a significant concern, and measures adopted to date, including self-quarantining with its practical challenges in monitoring and enforcement, for the purposes of addressing that concern require to be supplemented by further measures in respect of those persons for compelling reasons of public interest and for the common good to safeguard the public, the health system and the vaccination programme;