The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has confirmed that all 340,000 civil and public service employees who undertake non-essential foreign travel must use additional annual leave or pre-arranged unpaid leave to self-isolate for 14 days on return.
In a statement to RTÉ, the Department said that throughout the pandemic, it had operated as a "unified, One Public Service". "Accordingly, this requirement will apply to all public service employees in order to ensure equity of treatment between those who, due to the nature of their work, have been able to work from home during the crisis and those who have continuously attended the workplace throughout," the Department said.