Health (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2021-12-02
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Bríd Smith (PBP), Dublin South-Central

I will not take much time; I wish to ask a question. I am a bit puzzled. My understanding is that the highest rate of Omicron is in the UK. Would the Minister ever envisage introducing mandatory hotel quarantine for people coming from the UK? Although I support the amendment, if the Minister does not envisage that, then the amendment will not really be applicable. I am not arguing against it; I am trying to figure out what is in the Minister's head. If the Minister is not going to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine for people coming from the UK, then this amendment will not be necessary, because the vast majority of terminations, in cases where women are forced to go abroad, take place in the UK. It illustrates a point about the lack of sufficient abortion services in this country. I ask the Minister to clarify whether he envisages introducing mandatory hotel quarantine for people coming from the country with the highest rate of Omicron. If he envisages doing so, I ask him to clarify if that would make this amendment irrelevant or not. I hope he follows my line of questioning.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-12-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-12-02