Government currently has 'no plans to tighten restrictions further'

"The restrictions that come into effect today will last until 30th of January," he said.

"Of course, we can't rule out having to loosen restrictions earlier or having to tighten them if there was a sudden deterioration or a major deterioration in terms of the picture in hospitals, for example.

"What was announced last week, comes into effect on Monday and is there to apply until the end of January.

"There is no secret plan for any additional restrictions before Christmas, or New Year or even in January.

"But of course, the caveat is that it's not possible to guarantee anything in this pandemic and I think people appreciate the extent to which the virus has surprised us on a number of occasions and including with the emergence of the Omicron variant which is so much more transient transmissible and has vaccine escape properties as well."

The Tanaiste said he accepts more people may go to house parties if bars are required to close at 8pm.

"We do appreciate the fact that hospitality and other events end around eight o'clock probably does mean that more people will socialise at home," he said.

"The objective isn't to eliminate people from mixing with other people. It's to try and reduce by about 30% and that's what our public health advisors think is necessary to weather this Omicron wave."

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that the Government does not have plans to introduce more restrictions before the end of the year. But if they were needed they would take action.

Earlier, he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland it was important that essential work continue. There were contingency plans in place and they had existed for some time. The HSE had a national protocol where staff who were close contacts could continue to work if they had no symptoms.

Mr Vardkar also said that he did not foresee schools not reopening after Christmas. If there was to be any change then the Minister for Education would make an announcement.

Sectoral schemes would also be in place for the aviation, sporting and entertainment sectors, he said. With extra supports for the hospitality sector. Terms and conditions would apply with the devil in the details which will be announced tomorrow, he said.

“Ireland has managed the pandemic well. We are the fifth-lowest in terms of deaths per million (in Europe). That’s because of decisions in the round.”

Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan has said that Nphet will continue to monitor Covid case numbers over Christmas.

“We’re not going away for Christmas,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

However, Dr Holohan denied reports of a meeting with the Taoiseach planned for December 30 to introduce further restrictions.

Dr Holohan explained that Nphet’s proposal of a 5pm closing time for hospitality had been an attempt to cut down on the opportunities for socialising. But, ultimately, it was up to each individual to monitor their own behaviour and take preventative measures.

It was difficult at any time to say no to family gatherings, but it was particularly difficult at Christmas, he said. When there was less opportunity to socialise, the level of socialisation went down. 

Just because places were open did not mean that people had to go, he added, and it is up to each individual to protect themselves and their family.

The new measures which come into place today will help curtail the spread of the Omicron variant and will be complemented by public health measures and by the public “buying into the spirit” of the measures, according to Dr Holohan.

He said it was really important that people hear and heed this message now.

Nphet would continue to monitor advice from the ECDC and international expert bodies.

A lot has changed in the last three weeks (since Omicron was identified). We are monitoring on a day by day basis.

If Nphet thought that further measures were required, then they would mandate change.

Ireland is in a different situation than the Netherlands because of the high level of vaccination and booster doses, but no two countries were in the same position, Dr Holohan continued.

Public health assessments are based on what was best for each individual country and there are many other countries with strong public health systems that still had no choice but to implement restrictions.

Dr Holohan said it would be best to “concentrate on what is in front of us.” The intention is to “flatten the curve” so that the health system can avoid being overwhelmed.

It is important that health care staff get their booster vaccine, that they curtail their own behaviour and cut socialisation so that they did not put patients at risk. “This is a virus that spreads very easily," he added.

Dr Holohan declined to speculate that measures could still be in place at Christmas next year. He stated that the ability to limit transmission rested with everyone.

Dr Holohan noted that vaccines give a level of protection against serious illness and mortality, and there was a lot of misinformation at present saying that vaccines did not work. 

They did, he said, and because of the vaccine programme, Ireland has one of the lowest rates of hospitalisation and mortality in Europe.