The government will consider adding more countries to the mandatory hotel quarantine list later.
The legislation, allowing the new restrictions to be enacted, is being debated in the Dáil while the government awaits further advice from NPHET.
The vast majority of the opposition believe the proposed mandatory hotel quarantine laws for countries on a high risk list don't go far enough.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will meet with the Deputy CMO Dr Ronan Glynn later to discuss adding more countries to the existing high risk list of 20.
He says the legislation being passed through the Dáil will give them a chance to significantly expand the amount of countries on a mandatory quarantine list.
Meanwhile Taoiseach Micheál Martin will take part in an EU leaders' summit this afternoon aimed at speeding up the vaccine roll-out across the bloc and discussing the wider issue of border controls.
