S.I. No. 314/2020 - Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2020


Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 25th August, 2020.

I, STEPHEN DONNELLY, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 5 and 31A (inserted by section 10 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1 of 2020)) of the Health Act 1947 (No. 28 of 1947) and -

(a) having regard to the immediate, exceptional and manifest risk posed to human life and public health by the spread of Covid-19 and to the matters specified in subsection (2) of section 31A, and

(b) having consulted with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport,

hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2020.

2. In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 181 of 2020 ).

3. These Regulations, other than Regulation 4, shall come into operation on the 26th day of August 2020.

4. (1) The Health Service Executive may process personal data pursuant to an electronically completed Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form.

(2) In this Regulation -

“Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form” means the form set out in the Schedule to these Regulations or a form to like effect made available by the Health Service Executive that may be completed electronically;

“General Data Protection Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation)1 ;

“personal data” has the meaning it has in the General Data Protection Regulation;

“process”, in relation to personal data, has the meaning it has in the General Data Protection Regulation.

5. Regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations is amended by the substitution of “the 9th day of November 2020” for “the 31st day of August 2020”.

6. Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations is amended -

(a) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form”:

“ ‘Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form’ means the form set out in the Schedule or a form to like effect made available by the Health Service Executive that may be completed electronically;”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘PLF receipt’ means a receipt issued electronically by the Health Service Executive, in such form as it may specify, to an international passenger on the completion electronically by the passenger of a Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form;

‘public health information’ means public health information or advice relating to Covid-19, including measures for preventing, limiting, minimising or slowing the spread of Covid-19;”.

7. The Principal Regulations are amended by the substitution of the following Regulation for Regulation 4:

“4. The following persons (each of whom, in these Regulations, is referred to as a ‘relevant person’) are specified as relevant persons for the purposes of these Regulations:

(a) officers of the Minister for Justice and Equality, being immigration officers appointed by that Minister under section 3 of the Immigration Act 2004 (No. 1 of 2004);

(b) persons appointed by the Health Service Executive under the programme commonly known as the Covid-19 Contact Management Programme;

(c) any officer, employee or agent of the Health Service Executive who is acting in the course of his or her duty as such officer, employee or agent in accordance with Regulation 6(3) or 6A;

(d) any agent of the Minister who is acting in the course of his or her duty as such agent in accordance with Regulation 6(3) or 6A.”.

8. Regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (1):

“(1) An international passenger shall -

(a) on or before his or her arrival in the State, complete a Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form -

(i) in respect of himself or herself, and

(ii) subject to paragraph (2), in respect of any child in relation to whom the international passenger is a responsible adult, and

(b) on arrival in the State, present himself or herself to a relevant person, and -

(i) give the relevant person the Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form completed in accordance with paragraph (a), or

(ii) where a PLF receipt has been issued to the international passenger, make the PLF receipt available to the relevant person.”.

9. Regulation 6 of the Principal Regulations is amended -

(a) in paragraph (1), by the substitution of “Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form or PLF receipt” for “Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form”, and

(b) in paragraph (2), by the substitution of “Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form, or stated on a PLF receipt,” for “Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form”.

10. The Principal Regulations are amended by the insertion of the following Regulation after Regulation 6:

Provision of public health information to international passengers

6A. A relevant person may, during a relevant period, contact an international passenger by way of telephone call, text message or email using the contact details provided in the Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form completed by the international passenger in order to provide the international passenger with public health information relevant to -

(a) the international passenger, or

(b) a child in relation to whom the international passenger completed a Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form.”.

11. Regulation 7 of the Principal Regulations is amended -

(a) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (1):

“(1) Personal data provided on the Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form, or otherwise provided to a relevant person under Regulation 6, may be processed by the Minister for Health, the Health Service Executive, and one or more relevant persons, for the purposes of -

(a) recording and verifying information regarding the place of residence of an international passenger, and any child in respect of whom a Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form has been completed, for a period of up to 14 days following the arrival in the State of such a passenger or child,

(b) identifying, tracing and contacting of persons who have been in contact with persons who have been diagnosed, or are suspected of having been infected, with Covid-19,

(c) recording information regarding the countries that an international passenger has visited in the 14 days before his or her arrival in the State, and

(d) providing public health information to an international passenger in accordance with Regulation 6A.”,

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (2):

“(2) For the purposes of these Regulations the Minister for Health -

(a) is designated as data controller in relation to personal data processed for the purposes of these Regulations, and

(b) shall put in place appropriate data processing contracts with relevant persons processing personal data under these Regulations.”, and

(c) in paragraph (3), by the substitution of “a relevant person, or otherwise made the personal data available to a relevant person,” for “a relevant person”.

12. The Principal Regulations are amended by the insertion of the following Regulation after Regulation 7:

Transitional arrangements in relation to Passenger Locator Forms

8. (1) Notwithstanding the amendment to the definition of “Passenger Locator Form” effected by Regulation 6(a) of the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Requirements) (Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 314 of 2020 ) a reference to a Passenger Locator Form in these Regulations shall, during the transitional period, include a reference to a Passenger Locator Form within the meaning of these Regulations before the said Regulation 6(a) came into operation.

(2) In this Regulation, ‘transitional period’ means the period beginning on the 26th day of August 2020 and ending on the day of 31st day of August 2020.”.

13. The Principal Regulations are amended by the substitution of the Schedule to these Regulations for the Schedule to those Regulations:

SCHEDULE

/images/en.si.2020.0314.0001.jpg

/images/en.si.2020.0314.0002.jpg

/images/en.si.2020.0314.0003.jpg

/images/en.si.2020.0314.0004.jpg

/images/en.si.2020.0314.0005.jpg

/images/en.si.2020.0314.0006.jpg

/images/ls

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

22 August, 2020.

STEPHEN DONNELLY,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations, made under section 31A of the Health Act 1947 (inserted by section 10 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 ), provide for the imposition of a requirement that international passengers (including Irish citizens) arriving in the State at a port or airport from a place outside the State complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form, either a physical copy or an electronic version, for the purposes of recording and verifying information regarding their contact details and place of residence for a period of up to 14 days following arrival. The Regulations also provide that relevant persons appointed by the Minister can contact international passengers for the purpose of providing public health information relating to Covid-19.

1 OJ No. L 119, 4.5.2016, p.1