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People attending anti-lockdown protests may be traced by gardaí using CCTV and camera phone footage and prosecuted for breach of Covid regulations, Ministers have been told.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee briefed the Cabinet on Tuesday on the Garda response to disturbances in Dublin at the weekend and preparations to deal with demonstrations planned for the coming weeks.
She said gardaí were continuing investigations into the “illegal event” and were examining CCTV and smartphone footage of incidents on Saturday.
Ms McEntee told Ministers there would be “consequences” for those who attend events that are in clear breach of lockdown regulations.
“Gardaí will pursue those who broke the law by organising or attending an illegal event,” a spokesman said.
Officials said arrests had continued on Tuesday and a number of fixed-charge penalties for breaches of Covid regulations had been handed down.
Hotel quarantine
Separately, officials say mandatory hotel quarantine should be in operation by the end of next week, once the legislation – which has been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas – has been signed into law by the President. Following Tuesday’s Cabinet briefing, officials said the new policy would come into operation a matter of days after that.
Discussions with hotel operators and private security operators had been taking place in recent weeks, they said.
Private security firms will be hired to supervise the hotel quarantine, despite some misgivings in Government about the difficulties experienced elsewhere where the quarantine arrangements were managed by private operators.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has had discussions with the government of New Zealand, where the authorities have relied heavily on defence forces staff to supervise the arrangements. Mr Donnelly held an online meeting with the New Zealand health minister Chris Hipkins recently to discuss the country’s mandatory quarantine arrangement.
However, the Garda and the Department of Justice have strongly resisted the idea that gardaí be involved in supervising people in quarantine. Sources say they will be available as back-up if people break quarantine but should not be tasked with transferring or guarding travellers to quarantine facilities.