Italian citizens and businessmen living in Ireland have criticized the government’s inclusion of Italy in its “red list”, saying expatriates should be subject to mandatory hotel shipping.

In a letter to the Italian Foreign Minister and the Italian Ambassador to Ireland, they complained that the move had caused severe inconvenience and damage to Italians living and working here.

They argue that the Irish government has not provided “decision-making criteria” and that Italy’s inclusion in the list is not justified on the basis of the current level of COVID-19 infection or the prevalence of infectious diseases.

Restrictions

The letter, signed by prominent corporate figures from PayPal, Google, Medialon Bank, fashion company PVH and Blackstone Credit, urges the Italian government to “work to protect our rights as Italian citizens living in Ireland.”

Passengers from the five European Union countries of Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Italy must be separated from a hotel when arriving in Ireland, according to the government’s strict code restrictions this week.

The European Commission has contacted the Irish authorities to express concern about the move.

Brussels has questioned whether the move is in line with the rules of the Free Progressive Alliance.

The Commission called for “clarity” on how Ireland was included in the Red List because it did not represent the five most infected countries in the European Union.

“Freedom of movement is the cornerstone of the European Union and if there is a medical reason to control it, the purpose must be clear,” said Paulo Serbi, Italy’s ambassador to Ireland.

‘the aim’

Serbia said Italy and four other EU countries believed the Irish authorities were targeting them because they were processing information about variable trade and transfers to other member states.

“There were other countries that did not do this,” so the laws against Italian immigration here are “discriminatory.”

Serbia said the Italian community in Ireland, which numbered about 50,000 before the Pandemic, was a key factor and had seriously hampered the process.

The Italian-Irish Chamber of Commerce also complained that the decision had not been adequately evaluated from an economic point of view.

The real issue here is that it will affect trade relations between Italy and Ireland in the coming months. Alberto Resini, secretary general of the organization, said that not only Italian or Italian companies, but any company in Ireland that does business with Italy or has a large number of Italian employees has such an impact.

“While big companies can handle this problem, small companies will struggle to survive,” he said.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on Thursday night that he would not apologize to the European Commission or the Italian ambassador to Ireland for imposing a mandatory hotel ban. He said he was confident the move was in line with the law of the land. Union.