(LRC Revised)

Number 24 of 2021

HEALTH (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) ACT 2021

REVISED

Updated to 10 January 2022

Changes to legislation

as of 10 July 2026, this Act is up to date with all changes known to be in force.

This Revised Act is an

administrative consolidation of the

Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2021

. It is

prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the

Law

Reform Commission Act 1975

(3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake

revision and consolidation of statute law.

All Acts up to and including the

Maritime Area Planning Act 2021

(50/2021), enacted 23 December 2021, and all statutory instruments up to and including

the

European Communities (Safety of Toys) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2022

(S.I. No. 15 of 2022), made 11 January 2022, were considered in the preparation of

this

Revised Act.

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act,

the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees,

undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature

of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from

any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email

to

revisedacts@lawreform.ie.

Number

24

of

2021

HEALTH (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) ACT 2021

REVISED

Updated to 10 January

2022

CONTENTS

PART 1

Preliminary and General

Section

1. Short title, commencement and operation

2. Definition

PART 2

Amendments relating to certain indoor premises

3. Insertion of sections 31AB to 31AL to Act of 1947

4. Miscellaneous amendments to Act of 1947

PART 3

Amendments relating to quarantine in designated facilities

5. Amendment of section 38B of Act of 1947

6. Amendment of section 38G of Act of 1947

7. Amendment of section 38K of Act of 1947

Acts Referred to

Companies Act 2014

(No. 38)

Health (Amendment) Act 2021

(No. 1)

Health Act 1947

(No. 28)

Legal Services Regulation Act 2015

(No. 65)

Registration of Clubs Acts 1904 to 2008

Number

24

of

2021

HEALTH (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) ACT 2021

REVISED

Updated to 10 January

2022

An Act to—

A. make, on a temporary basis, exceptional provision, in the public interest and

having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and public health posed

by the spread of the disease known as Covid-19 and variants of that disease and in

order to mitigate, where practicable, the effect of the spread of that disease; to

amend the

Health Act 1947

for that purpose; to provide for the lawful operation of certain indoor premises

subject to certain conditions notwithstanding restrictions in place in relation to

such premises under that Act; to provide, for those purposes, for a robust and enforceable

system of verification of the health status of certain persons, including vaccination

or recovery status; to confer a power on the Minister for Health to prescribe matters

related to the foregoing; to provide for enforcement; and to provide for related matters;

B. amend certain provisions relating to pre-travel requirements in respect of certain

persons arriving in the State; to amend the period to be spent by a person in quarantine

at a designated facility in certain circumstances; to make provision in relation to

the power of the Minister for Health to make regulations in relation to tests that

may be taken for the purpose of detecting Covid-19 in the context of the requirement

to quarantine at a designated facility and to confer a power on that Minister to prescribe

the purpose for which such a test may be taken; to provide that quarantine at a designated

facility shall not be required for certain persons arriving in the State in certain

circumstances and to confer a power on the Minister for Health to make regulations

in relation to those circumstances; for those purposes, and for related purposes,

to amend the

Health Act 1947

; and to provide for related matters.

[21

st July

, 2021]

In relation to paragraph A of the foregoing

WHEREAS a public health emergency has arisen and continues in the State by virtue

of the spread of the disease known as Covid-19;

AND WHEREAS that disease, and the emergence of variants of the disease, and particularly

the Delta variant, with evidence of increased transmissibility and the potential to

evade immune response, and the spread of those variants, continues to present a very

serious risk to public health and it is essential that persons testing positive or

who are asymptomatic for the disease including in particular, variants of the disease,

are restricted on a temporary basis from access to certain indoor premises given that

the transmission of the disease has proven difficult to prevent;

AND WHEREAS a number of vaccinations for active immunisation to prevent the disease

have been identified, authorised for use in the State and administered to part of

the population of the State, and the availability of such vaccinations provides an

opportunity to ease certain restrictions in force provided certain conditions are

adhered to;

AND WHEREAS the existence of immunity as a result of having recovered from infection

with Covid-19 also provides, in certain contexts, an opportunity to ease certain restrictions

in force provided certain conditions are adhered to;

AND WHEREAS certain indoor social activities are by their nature high risk and are

likely to involve significant levels of social mixing in environments conducive to

disease transmission, which risk is diminished where participants in these activities

have immunity from the disease;

AND WHEREAS the likelihood of transmitting, and the consequences of infection with,

that disease are diminished in the case of persons who have been treated with such

vaccines or who have recovered from infection with Covid-19, to the extent that allowing

such persons to participate in certain aspects of the normal social and economic functioning

of society presents a lesser threat to the State’s efforts to prevent, minimise, limit or reduce the risk of persons being infected

with the disease than so allowing people who have not been so treated or who have

not so recovered;

AND WHEREAS the easing of certain restrictive measures imposed on persons in the State

as regards certain indoor premises is rendered safer from a public health perspective

when accompanied by a robust and enforceable system of verification of vaccination

or immunity status;

Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows

CONTENTS

PART 1

Preliminary and General

Section

1. Short title, commencement and operation

2. Definition

PART 2

Amendments relating to certain indoor premises

3. Insertion of sections 31AB to 31AL to Act of 1947

4. Miscellaneous amendments to Act of 1947

PART 3

Amendments relating to quarantine in designated facilities

5. Amendment of section 38B of Act of 1947

6. Amendment of section 38G of Act of 1947

7. Amendment of section 38K of Act of 1947

Number

24

of

2021