O’Leary calls for "insane and useless" two-week quarantine to be axed

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary is urging the Government to remove the “insane and useless” quarantine rules that came into force yesterday.

All new arrivals into Ireland are now legally obliged to fill out a passenger locator form – telling authorities where they will self-isolate for two weeks.

Tourism and hospitality representatives have warned that the rules will cause further damage at a time when other parts of Europe are preparing to reopen to visitors.

O’Leary calls for "insane and useless" two-week quarantine to be axed

Mr O’Leary has written an open letter to the Government calling on it to reconsider the plan and on The Hard Shoulder this evening, he said officials must look at what is happening in other countries.

“We are looking for Ireland to follow exactly the same science as the leading science and medical experts in Italy, in Spain, in France and in Germany this weekend.

“All of them are removing travel restrictions and welcoming visitors and nobody is following this insane and useless quarantine that Simon Harris introduced yesterday.

He noted that authorities have already admitted that they will be able to check if people are self-isolating where they say they will.

“You fill out a paper form, you put your address down as any address you like and the authorities – we know this from our consultation meetings with them – won’t follow up, can’t follow up and they have no means of tracking any of the addresses that are put on those forms.

“It is completely useless.”

You can listen back to the full interview here:

O’Leary calls for "insane and useless" two-week quarantine to be axed