The Irish government is thinking about how to deal with the circumvention of the ban on tourist trips abroad-after “dental tourism” to the Canary Islands has become a systemic problem.
This is reported by Politico.
Since mid-December, Ireland, as part of measures to combat the epidemic, has banned flights abroad, except in cases where there are important work, family, or medical reasons for doing so.
However, thousands of people have found a way to circumvent the ban by formally explaining their trip by visiting a dentist.
The National Immigration Office of Ireland notes that” urgent medical reasons “ call the purpose of their trip about a third of people flying to Tenerife. At the same time, travelers often fly with companions.
Dentists of the Spanish Canary Islands in comments to the Irish media say that they receive suspicious orders from Irish citizens every day.
A representative of one of the clinics in Tenerife said that they have traditionally had orders from older Europeans, but recently there have been many requests from young people, often couples, who want to get confirmation of the appointment by email.
“Of course, when they don’t come, we understand that it was just an excuse to go. It’s a pity that they take away free slots from people who really have a problem, “ she said.
Several clinics in the comments reported that they stopped booking visits for the Irish, or began to require a subscription. Some said they had compiled a list of clients who never showed up and wanted to hand it over to Irish law enforcement.
Police at Dublin Airport say they have no legal mechanisms to stop travelers from giving proof of the importance of their trip by confirming a doctor’s visit. They can be fined 500 euros because of doubts about the truthfulness of the explanation, and there are already many such precedents-but they can not prohibit boarding a flight.
The prime minister has already proposed to increase this fine to 2,000 euros so that the deliberate abuse of exceptions costs 4,000 euros for one pair.
