TAOISEACH Micheal Martin has hinted that Ireland could be about to cancel all trips abroad due to fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases.
Martin admitted that a spike in cases could impact and seriously hinder other parts of society such as schools and businesses reopening, and that Ireland needed to be "cautious" over the risks of a second wave of Covid-19.
"What is worrying the public health officials and what is worrying me is the continuing volatility at international level," Martin told RTE's Six One News.
"And some counties that were doing well three weeks ago are not doing as well now so I think we have to be cautious here because our economic recovery depends on continued suppression of the virus and that's why we have to be extremely careful."
The news comes as it's revealed that one in five cases of Covid-19 in Ireland during the last week have been related to travel.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has been raising concerns over the worrying trend.
Professor Philip Nolan of the NPHET said of the data: "In absolute terms, it's not just the proportion, the number of travel related cases is increasing again.
"We were looking at 70 or 80 per week in the very early stages of the epidemic, very low numbers in the middle.
"And we are back up to the low teens now in terms of the number of travel related cases we are seeing. That is a source of concern."
Despite the government warning of a second spike in cases and advising the public to cancel any holiday plans this summer, they're also planning to release a list of 'green' countries it considers safe for Irish citizens to travel to this week.
