Aodhan O'Faolain & Kevin Galvin
The US, Canada, France and Italy are among 16 new countries added to Ireland's mandatory hotel quarantine list.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly made the announcement last night after a special Cabinet meeting on public health.
The measure will come into effect from 4am next Thursday.
Sinn Fein's Health Spokesperson David Cullinane says it was the right decision.
"It's very important that we do everything possible to keep people safe, to keep any new variants and existing variants out of this state, and ensuring that we have sufficient checks at ports and airports.
"We're talking here about non-essential travel - which shouldn't be happening in the first place - the very least we should do is make sure proper quarantining is in place."
It's as woman who is currently quarantining has asked the High Court for inquiry into what she claims amounts to unlawful detention.
The application has been brought by lawyers representing Ms Inbar Aviezer, who under the requirements of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 has been quarantining at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel, near Dublin Airport since Wednesday after taking a flight from Israel.
The matter will be heard on Saturday morning, after counsel for the state asked for time to consider the application for an inquiry.
At the High Court on Friday evening Mr Justice Senan Allen directed that the Minister for Health be put on notice of the application.
John Gallagher Bl for the state said his side needed time to consider the complex and important issues raised in Ms Aviezer's application.
Counsel said that a preliminary issue in the case will be if Ms Aviezer is actually detained as a matter of law.
Constitution
The inquiry under Article 40.4.2 of the constitution into the legality of her detention has been brought against the Minister for Health, and TIFCO Ltd and TIFCO Management Services (Ireland) Ltd the owners and operators of the hotel where she is currently located.
Seeking the inquiry under Article 40 of the Irish Constitution Conor Power SC for Ms Aviezer said that while "the doors of her hotel room are unlocked", she must stay in her room for most of the day, and she receives her meals in the room.
Counsel said his client says she is being detained, and that the detention is not lawful.
It is very much her case that the quarantine regime amounts to a form of detention, which breaches his client's constitutional right to liberty, counsel said.
It was accepted that the state must take measures to protect public health in light of the Covid19 pandemic.
However, Counsel also told the court that the decision to require her to quarantine at a hotel was in Ms Aviezer's case is "disproportionate".
Vaccination
Counsel said that there was a failure to take into account important considerations including that client has been vaccinated for Covid-19 in Israel, and had tested negative for Covid-19 on two occasions in the last few days.
On arrival she was told she would have to quarantine for up to 14 days, and would have to pay €1,850 to cover the costs of her stay at a designated hotel.
Counsel said the appeal mechanism under the quarantine regulations, but her appeal was not successful.
If she were to leave the hotel, she faces the prospect of being arrested by the gardaí and being brought back to the hotel.
Anyone who fails or refuses to undergo the mandatory quarantine could end up receiving a criminal record as well as being fined and or being jailed for a month, counsel said.
His client does not wish to break the law, the court heard.
New job
His client, who has moved to Ireland to be with her fiancée, is due to start a new job in the healthcare sector at the end of the month, counsel added.
His client is a citizen of Switzerland, Israel and the United States. She viewed Friday's proceedings via an-line video link.
When she arrived in Ireland she did not know about the mandatory requirement to quarantine at a designated hotel, counsel said.
After considering counsel's submissions Mr Justice Allen, who questioned if Ms Aviezer could actually be considered to be detained, and if so, who was actually detaining her, said he was prepared to hear the application for an inquiry in the presence of lawyers for the State.
The judge also expressed his scepticism, without determining the issue, to the proposition that the hotel owner and operator are in fact detaining any person subject to the mandatory quarantine.
The hearing of the application to bring an inquiry will commence Saturday morning.
