THE Irish government said it intends to share information on travellers arriving into the Republic with authorities in Northern Ireland.
The Republic's health minister Stephen Donnelly yesterday said a new initiative will see the details of passengers travelling to the north, but landing in Dublin, passed onto their counterparts over the border.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, Mr Donnelly said the authorities in the north "will be made aware and they can contact you and engage in public health measures with you".
It comes after a meeting was held between Mr Donnelly and his health counterpart in the north, Robin Swann, on Friday.
However, Mr Donnelly said the situation may not be reciprocated as Northern Ireland does not "collect that information because for them it is an internal border".
It comes amid growing concerns about the rising cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19.
The variant, which originated in India, is now the dominant variant in the UK.
Just days ago the Irish government introduced new rules that require people arriving into the Republic from Britain to self-isolate for a minimum of five days.
Mr Donnelly yesterday was asked about the sharing of passenger data between north and south and if authorities in Northern Ireland will also be sharing the data.
"We would very much like that to be the case and we have been requesting that, but what Minister Swann has said is that is not possible," he said.
"What we are doing is to sending data from the Republic to Northern Ireland so there's been a lot of work done on this, Minister Swann and I have met three times in the last few weeks.
"Our understanding is that in a few weeks time, there's already information sent, but in a few weeks time, the more comprehensive information will be sent.
"So essentially, if you are landing in the Republic but your destination is Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland will be made aware and they can contact you and engage in public health measures with you.
"What I very much would like is that people arriving into Belfast from Britain whose final destination is the Republic, that we would receive notification of that.
"It's not agreed, but the reason its not agreed is that Northern Ireland are saying they don't collect that information because for them it is an internal border and they would say it's no different to someone driving from Kerry to Dublin that we don't collect that information.
"They're not refusing to give us the information, they don't collect the information."
Mr Donnelly added that they were "watching the Delta variant, the spike in Britain and the spike in Derry, very, very closely and we are concerned about that".
However, while the Department of Health has said "data sharing" was discussed with Mr Donnelly, it remains unclear if the health authorities in the north will share passenger data with the Republic.
In a post on Twitter, the department said Mr Swann held a meeting with Mr Donnelly and the chief medical officers for the north and south, Sir Michael McBride and Dr Tony Holohan.
It said that the "discussions included Covid incidence levels, ongoing cross border collaboration and progress on data sharing".
