Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cork was the first real scare place in my memory of this back last spring. There was an instance in Cork where it started up. I remember talking to some of the medics in Cork who were really expecting to be hit the worst. In truth, Cork over the subsequent several months, had a much lower incidence compared to the rest of the country. That has changed in recent weeks in Cork city but it may, thankfully, not be the case in parts of the county.

We all have to be vigilant. One of the reasons the Government set up this framework with five levels is to allow us to be flexible and have a situation where a county can be at a different level. I hope that with Dublin and Donegal that if the numbers stabilise - we are not going to get the numbers down to zero - they can get back down to level 2. If we can all stabilise for a period, we can get to level 1. That is where we want to head to.

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