MINISTER FOR HEALTH Stephen Donnelly has said that the Government is unable to refund people who paid for a Covid-19 test to arrive into Ireland before the requirement to get one was deferred.

Anyone travelling to Ireland is currently required to produce a negative Covid-19 test, which can be either a PCR test taken in the previous 72 hours or a professionally-administered antigen test taken in the past 48 hours. Children aged 11 down are exempt.

The rule was initially expected to come into force on Friday, 3 December but it emerged that morning that the requirement would be delayed until 5 December to facilitate airport staff and airlines to get a system in place to check test results.

The late change prompted calls – including by Government junior minister Josepha Madigan – for the Health Minister to consider subsidising tests which had been paid for by those travelling into Ireland on 3 and 4 December.

But in response to a Parliamentary Question by Fianna Fáil TD Christopher Sullivan earlier this week, Stephen Donnelly said the Government had no way to refund passengers.

“There is no facility in place to pay costs in the cases referred to,” the Minister said.

“In making regulations to introduce these testing requirements, regard was given to the need for balance between the importance of the measure to protect public health and ensuring travellers have sufficient notice of a legal requirement and sufficient time to arrange testing before travel.”

The requirement was initially introduced on a temporary basis as part of the Government’s response to emergence of the Omicron variant.

At the time, just one case of the new variant had been identified. However, latest figures estimate that Omicron makes up around a quarter of new Covid-19 cases in Ireland.

It is currently not known whether the rule will be lifted as part of new guidelines to be announced by the Government this evening. 

Donnelly also told O’Sullivan that measures such as the requirement for inbound passengers to get a Covid-19 test were reviewed on an ongoing basis.

“Travel requirements are kept under regular review based on the evolving international epidemiological situation and as understanding of the Omicron variant develops,” he added.