Sinn Féin and Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has said he backs the call by Bus and Rail Unions to make wearing of masks on public transport mandatory. Teachta Crowe described the move as a ‘no brainer’ and said there was no real leadership being shown on this by the caretaker Minister for Transport Shane Ross.

In a parliamentary reply to Deputy Crowe this week, Minister Ross said;

“The public health advice recommends that members of the public wear face coverings when they are using busy public transport or are in enclosed indoor public areas such as retail outlets. This is recommended as an additional hygiene measure. This public health advice takes the form of a recommendation; it is not mandatory.”

Teachta Crowe said:

“Bus and Rail Unions have taken the lead on behalf of their members and commuters by calling for the mandatory wearing of masks on all public transport. This is a no brainer and should be agreed by the caretaker Minister for Transport Shane Ross and his Cabinet colleagues.

“While COVID-19 continues to stalks our communities, the wearing of masks, along with other public health measures, will have to become the norm for us all in the foreseeable future.

“Other jurisdictions have taken this step to prevent the spread of this lethal virus in their populations and we should do the same.

“I cannot understand the reluctance of Minister Ross to make the wearing of masks mandatory and I can only think that this reticence is down to availability or a shortage of masks.

“People want to return to some semblance of normality, but they also need to have and feel confident about our public transport system. The wearing of masks will also provide additional safety cover to drivers and other staff who work on out transport services.

“The half in, half out approach adopted by the Minister on masks is typical of his approach in office and will not satisfy workers or commuters and is a recipe for trouble as some passengers will and some passengers wont.” ENDS

Note: Please see the aforementioned PQ to Minister Shane Ross below

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport if a response will be issued to the safety requests from bus and rail unions regarding the compulsory use of masks on public transport as the lockdown resulting from Covid-19 continues.

REPLY

The Government has been clear that continued operation of the public transport sector is important, and it has been designated among the essential services that have continued to operate during the pandemic. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has been working with all transport operators to ensure service continuity, and in this they continue to be guided by the public health advice, including in relation to enhanced cleaning regimes and social distancing measures across the network.

On Friday 15 May, in the context of announcing the first phase of re-openings under the Government’s Roadmap to Re-opening Society and Business, the Taoiseach announced new public health advice arising from the considerations of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and presented in a letter from the Chief Medical Officer to the Minister for Health (and published online). The public health advice recommends that members of the public wear face coverings when they are using busy public transport or are in enclosed indoor public areas such as retail outlets. This is recommended as an additional hygiene measure. This public health advice takes the form of a recommendation; it is not mandatory.