An emergency meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 is underway to consider new restrictions which could be imposed before Christmas.
The committee met on Friday morning to discuss the latest advice proposed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) following their meeting on Thursday.
The recommendations that Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said should come in place before Christmas include further limits on hospitality and socialising among households.
One of the proposed restrictions was a limit on household gatherings, meaning people would not be allowed to have more than three other households in their homes.
With three weeks to go until Christmas, these new rules, if adopted by the Government, may impact how people spend their Christmas Day.
Pubs, restaurants and nightclubs could also be hit hard with further restrictions examined by NPHET including; a stricter curfew, table numbers reduced to six people, a ban on multiple table bookings, and table service.
If the Government decides to implement NPHET advice that there should only be table service, this could see nightclubs shut again.
It’s understood these rules may stay in place until January or February.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath are meeting with representatives for publicans and the hospitality sector on Friday morning.
It is expected they will receive enhanced financial supports as the industry has been dealt a major blow before the busiest time of the year for business.
Two high-level sources confirmed to the Irish Mirror on Thursday night that the aim for the coming weeks is to further reduce people socialising.
Meanwhile, the new Covid travel test regime on travellers entering the country that was due to take effect from Friday has been postponed.
All passengers arriving into the State from Friday were expected to show either a negative antigen of PCR test.Emergency meeting of Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 underway on Christmas restrictions
The Government has pushed out the new rule and it won’t kick in until Sunday as the rules are “finalised”.
