MORE THAN 130,000 passengers passed through Dublin Airport in just two weeks, according to Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
In the past week, the Dublin Airport Authority have recorded a daily average of 11,000 arriving and departing the airport.
Around 134,000 went through the airport in the first 12 days of July before the Government had published a 'green list' of countries 'safe' to travel to.
There are growing fears about the sheer number of visitors coming to Ireland, particularly from the US - the country worst hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Current rules state that anyone travelling to Ireland from a country not included on the green list will have to quarantine for 14 days.
However, Martin admitted on Wednesday that it was "impossible" to ensure that everybody adheres to these rules.
"In terms of the mandatory quarantine, this has been articulated for quite some time. It is impossible to enforce in the first instance," Martin told the Dáil this week.
"Secondly, it is questionable as to whether it works well. In some countries they have brought in mandatory quarantining and it led to a cluster where the actual quarantining was taking place."
Despite criticism of Ireland's foreign travel policy, Martin stressed that things needed to be kept "in perspective," pointing to the fact that July's figure represented a 91% drop compared to the numbers seen at Dublin Airport the same time last year.
"The figure this July is about 134,000 people. There’s been a lot of hype about the travel. There's been a lot of concern about it," he said.
"I acknowledge the concern but we need to keep it in perspective. Ninety-one percent drop in travel in and out of Dublin in the first 12 days of July between this year and last year.
"The issue as I said yesterday is how do we live with COVID in the next 12 to 15 months in the absence of a vaccine."
