Dr. Ronan Glynn:

When we look at this, we do not differentiate between the EU and the rest of the world. We look at countries with variants of concern, then countries or states with a very high incidence and then countries or states with an incidence that is more than 2.5 times Ireland's incidence. We recognise that many countries have a challenge in either carrying out, or for whatever reason, reporting data on variants of concern. It is our belief that it is appropriate to examine overall disease incidence in countries because we know that incidence is associated with the emergence and spread of variants of concern. We know the ECDC has previously been clear on the potential threat posed by variants and the likely further spread of those variants, both within the EU and internationally. It is in all of that context that we provide advice, which looks at both variants and incidence.