Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The legislation we will introduce next week will not make that distinction, but I do not rule out the possibility, further down the line, of having different rules for different regions and different parts of Ireland. However, this is not straightforward. If we open pubs in one part of the country, we will see people travelling from other parts to where the measures are less restrictive. We need to bear that in mind. Counties in Ireland are not like states in Australia or the länderin Germany. Ireland is a small country and it is very easy to get around quickly. If we do not have different restrictions in different areas, we must bear in mind that there may be pull factors that bring the virus into a particular area.

I thank Deputies O'Rourke, Murnane O'Connor and O'Donoghue for raising the issue of international travel. The Government needs to clarify this matter and we will do so on Monday. There have, to a certain extent, been mixed messages from Government and NPHET in this regard. We will clarify all the issues on Monday. To be clear, the message from Government at this time is that we are asking people not to engage in any non-essential travel off the island. In addition, people coming into the island for any reason are being asked to restrict their movements, not self-isolate or quarantine, for 14 days. The only exceptions are people who work on aeroplanes or boats and diplomats. The guidance applies to everyone else. We will produce a green list on Monday of the countries with an incidence of the virus similar to or lower than our own. Logically, the advice for people travelling to and from each of those countries will be different.

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