Stephen Donnelly has shared an update on the new Covid measures expected in Irish schools and said hotel quarantine has not yet been recommended.
The Minister for Health was speaking before a crunch Cabinet meeting at Dublin Castle on Tuesday as government decides how to respond to the challenges of Covid-19 and the new variant Omicron.
And Mr Donnelly explained that new mask-wearing guidance is expected for pupils in third class and up.
But he also praised the Irish people for their efforts in avoiding the "sobering" level of cases and hospitalisations health experts had been predicting.
He told reporters: "I would certainly hope [after the Cabinet meeting] there will be very clear guidance on mask wearing in schools and there will be very clear advice for parents.
"Obviously NPHET have been very concerned about the very big increase in cases and the analysis we saw last night showed it was particularly high in nine, 10 and 11 year olds, and hence the recommendation for masks from third class up.
"The evidence we have suggests they really have been very effective, for example, in secondary schools, so we will be discussing that this morning."
He added: "The analysis last night showed how we're doing in terms of case and hospitalisations including ICU versus these very sobering modelling forecasts we saw two weeks ago which really led to this big ask once more of the people of Ireland to take care, reduce the social contacts, and I'm delighted to say you can really see the efforts people are making."
And on new legislation for mandatory hotel quarantine to tackle the new Omicron variant, Mr Donnelly confirmed that no decisions had yet been made.
He said: "That's something we need to have on a statutory footing in case it is used, there is no recommendation to instigate it as the UK have right now, but obviously as has been reported right now there are other biosecurity measures we are looking to put in place regarding international travel.
"If the Cabinet decides to go with that we can put that in place very quickly, within a matter of days."
The government is expected to agree on a number of restrictions NPHET has already lined up, which include:
- play-dates will still be an option or a day out to the panto - but not both under potential new advice
- mask-wearing from third class and up - with an exemption for children with additional needs
- people arriving into Ireland may only be granted access with proof of a negative Covid test taken a maximum of 72 hours before arriving
a 10-day isolation period for anyone living with a person who has returned to Ireland from one of the seven countries in southern Africa
