Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 6 Jul 2020
HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has confirmed the government will launch a Covid-19 contact tracing app tomorrow.
Ahead of that launch event tomorrow morning, the app became available to download on iOS and Android devices this evening. It can be found by searching COVID Tracker Ireland on the app stores.
Speaking this evening, Donnolly said that the app “could be [and] hopefully will be a really power part of the toolkit in fighting this disease”.
“It allows every single person to play an extra part. It will allow us to get on with contact tracing in a matter of hours, it will allow people who have the app to completely control their own data, there will be no centralisation of data,” Donnolly said.
“The people themselves can choose if they want to anonymously share with close contacts that they have tested positive,” he said.
“It’s a very, very powerful tool. We’ll be getting into more of the detail tomorrow and we’ll be really encouraging as many people as possible to download and use it.”
Ahead of the Covid Tracker App’s launch, the HSE last month released documents detailing how the app will work.
The app will be voluntary, but a Lero study published last month by Science Foundation Ireland found that 82% of the population said that they would be willing to install an app for contact tracing.
It will record if a user is in close contact with another user by exchanging anonymous codes that are held on the users’ phones.
People who test positive for the coronavirus will be able to choose if they want to anonymously alert other app users who they have been in close contact with.
The app will also allow the user to anonymously record information about how they feel every day.
The information stored on the app will not be transferred to a centralised server.
In a previous statement, the HSE said:
“The symptom tracker has the potential to generate valuable national data relevant to Covid-19. The accurate reporting of the timing of the first onset of symptoms will improve the speed and the accuracy of the tracing process.
“In line with data protection law, the processing of data will be limited to this stated purpose. All personal data that is processed is kept to an absolute minimum.
“Users can choose to delete the app at any time and have full control over what information they share through the app.”
The app has been developed by the HSE and the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Government Chief Information Officer and An Garda Síochána, together with technical partners from the Irish private sector (Expleo, Nearform, Information Security Assurance Services Ltd (ISAS), and EdgeScan) and scientific partners from Science Foundation Ireland.
With reporting by Órla Ryan, Sean Murray
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I have no confidence in any of those ministers. They are making things up as they go along. They don’t manage the counties resources for the beneift of the country and her people. They use the countries resources and cash to buy votes to keep themselves in their lavish lifestyles.
Half of them are uneducated failures. Failed school teachers, publicans and farmers. We need to build the political system from the ground up as clearly the current one isn’t working.
@David Corrigan: Couldn’t agree more, politician must be the only job you don’t need qualifications of some description for. A big mouth and and a big ego are the only requirements it seems.
@Chutes: Spot on!!!!!
@David Corrigan: Do it then. Wait. You have a job, kids, bills to pay etc. You don’t have time. You don’t like 24 hour 365 days per year jobs. You can’t handle the aggressive comments from people who think they are your superior but defer to prove it.
@Dan Dare: Ya wha?
If you think those lemons are working 24/7/365 then clearly you are not all there. I can handle myself if someone wants to show they are weak and resort to aggressive comments as you call them.
You want to have a go at it?
The inheritance tax threshold allowance
for children should be brought back to what it was before the so called Celtic tiger years as it is at the moment a child cannot inherit the family home because the house is worth thousands more than the tax threshold in most cases in Dublin. We need a new political party and out with FFG the Greens and sinn fein/ira.
@Rodney Byrne: 100%. And if you want to transfer the house into your kids names now, there is tax on that too. On the other side however- there was talk on news talk this morning that social houses are being turned down because they don have electric charging points for their cars. No joke. The forever house brigade riding high.
16 billion of a Surplus.. why shouldn’t the citizens of this country benefit after all we generated this huge surplus. But we probably end up a €5 better off. Do something positive with this cash. Nationalise the broadband or ESB. Start building houses or perhaps even a whole new national industry like wind turbines. Make Ireland the wind turbine capital of Europe. But no, nothing with a bit of vision just take your €5 and shut up.
@Lord Sea: wow. Last time I checked the esb was owned by the State.
@Lord Sea: Nationalise broadband? You have to be kidding. Do you seriously believe the government would be quicker to adopt new generations of broadband? If broadband was state owned we would still be on dial up.
That’s it boys, look after your big mates and to he’ll with decent, ordinary people
@Richard Starling: do you think that people who earn far more than 50 k per annum are not decent?
@Marty Rox: some of them obviously, excluding the clique in bed with the ministers
@Marty Rox: 550,000 people pay the top rate of tax. There are 1,700,000 who don’t even reach that threshold and are in far more urgent need of tax relief than those on the high rate.
Raising the tax 40% rate helps only the 550k, raising the 20% threshold helps everyone. But of course FG only want to help their well off buddies with the smokescreen of helping middle Ireland( the majority of which do not reach the 40% threshold, ironically)
Anything for those on 30 to 40k? The real squeezed middle. The renters, the workers
Tax breaks for the landlords and high earners
@Barry Donnelly: Yes. No tax.
talk is cheap … looking for votes i would persume….
@ian cryan: Both statements are true. The sun rises in the morning.
Talk of prudent rainy day approach on money in boom times is to make sure the chosen few favourites of the political establishment parties across the board are well funded but poverty and hardships for the rest
Return the units that were stolen during the bank bailout.. This is a no brainer, will not lead to inflation and is a once off payment and will help those who have private pensions in their retirement… Remember the private sector do not have public sector gold plated pensions
@a politicians promise is as good as a lie: They should start putting money back into the citizens pension pot. You know, the one that they cleaned out to cover the banks mistakes.
Top it up and save our elders working until they are 103.
They’re not quite prudent when it comes to awarding themselves raises or employing half a dozen advisers on exorbitant salaries or certain civil servants who stick their two fingers up at the rest of us. The rest of us continue to get screwed left, right and centre
Instead of rewarding the people who don’t work or choose not to work why does mcgrath insist that the real workers get nothing?.
Do we really have to put up with this Punch and Judy show for the next four months.
How about the media just ignore it.
@Pato: four months? The budget talk sstarted last month just before all the evictions from the lifting of the ban are gonna be anounced.
This is all PR and a poor attempt at a distraction.
Ah yeah dont worry about being kicked out or waiting on a trolley for days in a hospital, unable to get a GP appointment? electrical outages being predicted again, massice price gouging going on in basically every sector? Firebrigade currently striking,underfunded and under staffed Gards?
Nah sure this Government will ignore its OWN independant review of taxes and future takes so they can attempt to buy some votes by doing the opposite of the reviews advice.
Things going to get a whole lost worse when the new hate speech bill kicks in, you won’t be able to criticise the government. An election isn’t going to solve anything either as SF at best will be on a par with what’s there already. What’s the answer? I don’t know, all I know is that the window of opportunity to take back our country is almost closed sadly.
@Richard Carroll: so if SF are on par with rest, in your personal opinion, then what’s to loose giving them 123 votes. When they actually do change things up it’s win win.
@Robert Bruce Tracy: u ok hun?
Politics is about buying votes, which is essentially all you have to do to stay in office, bang up a few posters everywhere which most can’t afford to do and you’re laughing all the way to the big table. It’s bloody sickening ngl!!
@Robert Bruce Tracy: what are you on about lad
Let’s get real folks. 20% rate up to 40,000… increasing this to 50,000 would me that any 1,000 over 40,000 you are on now , you will pay €3.84 less tax per week. If your lucky to be on 50,000 or over now, you would pay €38.40 less tax.. You can bet your bottom dollar that if this introduced the Gov will get some of it back by increasing duties on some other products. It’s all smoke screens, give with 1 hand and take vavk with the other… just watch
I am quite surprised the Journal is not removing posts referring to people as invaders? It is very clear that some contributions on here are born out of xenophobia and bigotry. I would dare say racism at times too.
@Sun Rise: also there are invaders coming here
@Dan Dare . Everyone on 30 to 40k pays PAYE, prsi, USC in their income you twit.
Check your own p60
More pomp and spin from a sham government.To hell with the ordinary people who are struggling
Build some infrastructure, improve hospital waiting times, invest in schools. Tax cuts are worthless if we don’t have the essentials that are needed for a functional society.
Dear Prudence
Are you coming out to play ?
Boom boom………..
Basda bish………………
You don’t have to be an id10t to comment in the journal.
@Dan Dare: No but it helps!
@Robert Bruce Tracy: sad…
@Robert Bruce Tracy: Lad, didn’t anyone warn you about smoking that stuff ? Too late now, but a clear warning to others. Say No to drugs.
have your say