The Defence Forces is acting as "troubleshooter" in the mandatory hotel quarantine but has no direct involvement in handling security or other problems that arise, Chief of Staff Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett said.

The military chief said the role of the Defence Forces in the scheme was not to take the lead but to support the Department of Health as the civil authority in charge of the quarantine system, while only gardaí and health officials had powers to act directly to deal with any problems that emerge with guests.

The State's quarantine scheme for inbound travellers from 33 high-infection countries and people without negative Covid-19 tests endured a rocky start over the weekend after three men absconded from the quarantine hotel, the Crowne Plaza at Dublin Airport, in two separate incidents on Saturday. Two are back in the facility while gardaí were last night continuing to search for a third man.

Hospital Report

The three left the hotel on Saturday despite a heavy security presence involving a private security contractor and Defence Forces personnel. Those who leave hotel quarantine without permission can be fined up to €2,000 or face imprisonment of up to one month. A Garda spokesman confirmed that gardaí had been called by the Defence Force’s State liaison officer at the hotel early on Saturday afternoon about the missing people.

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‘Co-ordinating’ role

Speaking on Friday, the first day of the hotel quarantine, before the issues arose over the weekend, Vice-Admiral Mellett said that the Defence Forces was adopting a "co-ordinating" role between the hotel operator, Tifco, its private security and other State agencies to help resolve any issues that arose.

Vice-Admiral Mellett stressed that the role of the military was to help the department.

“From the get-go I have been very careful to keep one step back on this. We are an aid to the civil authority. The civil authority in this case is the Department of Health. Our role is not lead on this; our role is to support that,” said Vice-Admiral Mellett.

“The Department of Health is the authority [in charge]. There are no ifs or buts about it, no ambiguity. We have no legal competence, nor do we want a legal competence. It would be inappropriate.”

Gardaí and health officials have civil powers under the legislation to handle problems, while the Defence Forces, as the State liaison official, can assist the hotel or private security with contacting the Garda or health officials if required.

“If necessary, the State liaison official or the assistant state liaison official will join those dots. But it is not a case whereby we will then go in and hold the position,” he said.

Civil liberties

Vice-Admiral Mellett said the Defence Forces was “very sensitive” to its role and that there was a “reputational piece” about the involvement of military personnel in uniform in a scheme that constrains civil liberties and the human rights of individuals to protect against the virus.

"We are not in martial law. We are not in Myanmar. We are very, very sensitive to this," he said.

“In terms of visibility, we don’t want to be seen. We want to ensure that the system works and we support it.”

He stressed that the quarantine system was based on "compliance by consent" as people were agreeing to travel into Ireland on the condition that they will have to quarantine for 12 days.

“This is not the State deliberately constraining people. People volunteer for the mandatory quarantine scheme because they have an objective to do and come into Ireland for a purpose and this is the route to it,” he said.

Vice-Admiral Mellett said that the quarantine system was the reality of the current rules of civil society under the Health Act 2020 and 2021 to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.