James Cox
Two of the three people who left a mandatory quarantine hotel yesterday have now returned to the facility.
One person who absconded from the Crowne Plaza near Dublin Airport is back in their room after being located by gardaí.
In a separate incident, two more residents left the hotel — one has since returned and a search is ongoing for the other person.
Frank Thornton, president of the Garda Representative Association, says it's inevitable something like this would happen.
Mr Thonrton said: “Initially, the commentary from policymakers was that gardaí would have a minimal input yet within the first 24 hours our members were involved in this crisis management yesterday. It shows that the impact and the additional burden being placed on our members is not always understood by the legislation and the policymakers.”
Those who leave hotel quarantine without permission can face a fine up to €2,000 or imprisonment of up to one month.
“As the Department of Health is the lead agency in relation to the management of mandatory quarantining, An Garda Síochána will not be commenting further at this time,” a Garda spokesman said.
The Department of Health said: “An Garda Síochána will investigate any suspected offences and enforce these laws."
Mandatory quarantine came into effect at 4am on Friday morning and the first 20 people arrived later on.
The majority of them were on a direct flight from Dubai.
