The EU Digital Covid Certificate will be rolled out in every country in the EU today (1 July) – except Ireland, which is not in a position to do so because of the recent HSE cyber attack.
The EU Digital Covid Certificate – aka the Digital Green Certificate – will be used to prove that travellers have either had both Covid jabs, had a negative Covid test or recovered from the virus.
“I want to confirm that we have a really good evolution with all the member states, except Ireland, til now,” European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said yesterday at a briefing in Brussels.
“Due to a cyber attack in Ireland it was difficult to reach the goal to have all of the technical solutions in place before the 1st of July but for all the other member states we don’t have any concerns about the way to proceed”.
“Paddy Last”
In a characteristically bullish statement released late last night, Ryanair called on Transport Minister Eamonn Ryan to explain why Ireland is “paddy last” to issue the digital covid certificates and criticised the “ongoing mismanagement” by the government of Ireland’s post-Covid recovery.
The carrier also criticised Ireland’s failure to introduce antigen testing for travel in and out of Ireland like “most other EU countries” do and said that the ongoing failure to reopen indoor dining left Irish tourism at a huge disadvantage and made it the “laughing stock of European tourism.”
Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said: “The Irish Government is doing untold damage to our economy and tourism infrastructure as our reopening plans lag way behind every other country in Europe.
“With over 1.5m Irish adults fully vaccinated, less than 45 Covid patients in hospital and less than 15 in ICU’s – there is no justification for any further delays.”
He continued: “Ireland continues to be the outlier in Europe, to the point where even the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) no longer receives any data on testing or positivity rates from NPHET or the Department of Health. Why not?”
Nphet Sidelined
However, it does seem that antigen tests may be used. Reports this morning indicate that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has bowed to pressure and will effectively by-pass Nphet with the establishment of a new expert group dedicated to fast-tracking the roll-out of rapid tests that will help re-open the country.
