The booking system for Ireland’s mandatory hotel quarantine regime is due to go live within the next 48 hours.
It follows the selection of the hotel group to provide the service, with it understood that the contract has been awarded to the Tifco Hotel Group.
The group has 24 properties with over 2,550 hotel rooms, and owns and operates a portfolio of hotels under the Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Travelodge, and Holiday Inn Express brands in both Ireland and Germany.
The Irish Times reports that the quarantine system is expected to open this week after it was signed off on by the Cabinet more than a month ago.
Arrivals from 33 “high-risk” countries amid the Covid-19 pandemic will be subject to the regime.
There will be a 72-hour period before the contracted hotels open to passengers, after the booking system goes live on Monday or Tuesday.
Criticism
The Government has faced recent criticism over the time taken to implement the system, with Labour leader Alan Kelly claiming “a lack of urgency” surrounded the plans.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said she could not “understand why it has taken so long” to implement the system after the passing of legislation.
New figures show that over a recent three-week period, 34,000 people arrived into the State — 1,200 of whom were from “high-risk” countries.
While hundreds of spaces will be available for incoming passengers under the new system, the Department of Health is unsure of the level of demand it will face as those quarantining will face a €2,000 bill.
On Sunday, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly visited Dublin Airport to inspect how the system would work from aircraft to hotel.
The Minister was brought from airside into the airport, where travellers will meet customs officials and border management, and then escorted to a security bus and brought to one of the hotels to observe the check-in protocols.
The first passengers to use the system could arrive from Thursday onwards. Anyone due to fly into the State from the date of commencement will be contacted by air carriers and informed that they must book a space in the system.
