Travelling to Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic

1. What you have to do before you arrive into Ireland from abroad

2. Passenger Locator Form

3. Requirement for a pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test

4. Exemptions – passengers who do not need to provide evidence of a pre-departure test

5. Post-arrival quarantine requirements for all passengers arriving in Ireland

6. Exemptions – full or partial exemptions for passengers from mandatory quarantine

7. Designated states: Mandatory Hotel Quarantine

What you have to do before you arrive into Ireland from abroad

The government advises against all non-essential international travel.

All passengers arriving in Ireland must:

complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form
provide evidence that you have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before you arrive into Ireland, or have evidence that you are exempt from this legal requirement

If you are travelling from or via a designated state then you must also pre-book and pre-pay for a place in a designated facility for mandatory hotel quarantine.

Passenger Locator Form

If you are coming to Ireland from overseas, including if you are travelling onwards to Northern Ireland, you must complete COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form.

Failure to complete this form is an offence.

If you arrive via Northern Ireland and have been overseas in the 14 days prior to your arrival in Ireland, then you must complete an electronic COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form online.

The e-receipt must be saved for 14 days after arrival and produced upon request to a Member of An Garda Síochána.

An exemption from completing the form is in place for providers of essential supply chain services (such as hauliers, pilots and maritime staff) and diplomats.

Once you have arrived in Ireland you must comply with the health restrictions in place in Ireland.

Passengers travelling to Northern Ireland must ensure that they are familiar with the guidance and regulations in place, including the completion of a UK Passenger Locator form.

Requirement for a pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test

If you are arriving into Ireland from overseas or are transiting through an Irish port or airport you must have a negative/‘not detected’ result from a pre-departure COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours prior to your arrival in Ireland. Antigen or other test types do not meet the requirements.

You will be asked to show evidence of this negative or 'not detected' result before boarding the airplane or ferry from the country you are travelling from and will be denied boarding if you cannot produce such evidence. Once you arrive in Ireland - you have to provide this evidence to Irish immigration officers.

You should retain the written confirmation of your test result for at least 14 days.

If you arrive without evidence of a negative or 'not detected' RT-PCR test or a valid exemption:

this is an offence
you must enter and pay for mandatory quarantine in a hotel until either you receive a negative or ‘not detected’ RT-PCR test result or you have quarantined in the hotel for 10 days.

If you arrive into Ireland from overseas and enter via Northern Ireland, then you must have a negative / non-detected RT-PCR test result taken within 72 hours of arrival at the point of entry and retain this test result for 14 days after arrival. It must be shown upon request to a member of An Garda Síochána (the Irish police force).

Exemptions – passengers who do not need to provide evidence of a pre-departure test

international transport workers, including workers in aviation, maritime and road haulage sectors are exempt from this requirement where they are travelling in the course of performing their duties
patients travelling to Ireland for urgent medical reasons, and that reason is certified by registered medical practitioner or person holding an equivalent qualification outside the State
children aged 6 and under
passengers whose journey originated in Northern Ireland and have not been overseas in the 14-day prior to arrival.
a member of the Gardaí or Defence Forces personnel travelling to the State in the course of performing his or her duties
a person who travels to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation.
travel to perform the function of or provide services to an office holder or elected representative, where such travel to Ireland is required to continue providing such services or performing such functions
if a citizen has a genuine humanitarian emergency requiring urgent travel, and might not be able to obtain the result of a pre-departure RT-PCR test in time, they should contact the nearest embassy or consulate immediately for advice and consular assistance before commencing their journey.

Post-arrival quarantine requirements for all passengers arriving in Ireland

Mandatory quarantine requirements apply to all persons who have been overseas in the 14-days prior to entering Ireland. Arrivals from designated states are subject to mandatory hotel quarantine.

For all others arriving in Ireland from non-designated states:

a 14-day quarantine period must be undertaken at the address specified on the Passenger Locator Form
passengers who travel from another country to Ireland, and arrive via Northern Ireland, must also observe the mandatory quarantine regime
you may only leave your place of residence during the quarantine period for unavoidable reasons of an emergency nature to protect a person’s health or welfare, or to leave the State
you can end your period of quarantine if you receive written confirmation of a ‘non-detected’ RT-PCR test result taken no less than 5 days after arrival. You must retain the written confirmation of your test result for at least 14 days

If you do not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory quarantine you are committing an offence.

Exemptions – full or partial exemptions for passengers from mandatory quarantine

There some limited exemptions from the requirement to complete mandatory quarantine:

patients travelling to Ireland for urgent medical reasons
international transport workers in possession of an Annex 3 Certificate; Drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles; Aviation and maritime crew
Gardaí/Defence Forces personnel, while carrying out their duties
travel to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation
diplomats, or travel to perform the function of or provide services to an office holder or elected representative
transit passengers who arrive for the purposes of travelling to another state, and who do not leave the port or airport

The following may temporarily leave their place of quarantine when necessary to perform their essential function – and only for as long as strictly required:

a person required to carry out essential repair, maintenance, construction or safety assurance of critical transport infrastructure, critical utility infrastructure, manufacturing services, information services, or communication services
a member of staff of an international organisation, or person invited, carrying out functions required for the proper functioning of such organisations and which cannot be carried out remotely
a passenger who is participating in a sporting event and has been provided with written certification by Sport Ireland
journalists, carrying out their professional functions

Designated states: Mandatory Hotel Quarantine

Travel to Ireland from specific designated states is now subject to mandatory hotel quarantine. This must be pre-booked in advance of travel.

These arrangements apply to any passenger who has been in any of these countries in the previous 14 days, even if only transiting through one of these countries and even if remaining airside.

These arrangements also apply to any passenger who is travelling on to Northern Ireland.

It is important to note that the list of designated states will be subject to change at short notice and passengers are required to check the list before travelling to Ireland, to be sure of their obligations.

The Minister for Health has designated the following countries as designated states for the purposes of mandatory hotel quarantine: