A Government plan to bring 28 child refugees to Ireland is in doubt because gardaí are not being allowed to travel to Greece due to safety concerns related to Covid-19.
This is despite the fact that social workers from Tusla have been given permission to make the same journey. However the mission is a joint operation with An Garda Siochana which says deploying garda personnel to Greece to perform security checks on the refugees would be "a breach of Employer Health and Safety Regulations".
The current refugee relocation programme is due to conclude this month, and the Department of Children said unless the mission goes ahead before its conclusion the children will not be relocated to Ireland.