THE TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has warned that the Irish government will not hesitate to implement restrictions in Dublin should case numbers continue to grow.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn has already issued an appeal for the people of Dublin to limit social contacts.
It comes after the average number of cases in the capital rose to 104 per day.
The Irish Government is due to meet this coming Tuesday to discuss the implement of new measures designed to slow the spread of the virus.
In the meantime, the Taoiseach has warned that the Government will act if necessary.
“We learned from what we did (in Kildare, Laois and Offaly),” he said.
"We’ll get advice from NPHET on Tuesday and we’ll have to weigh their advice... The most important thing about Dublin is how to get to grips with the virus to lower the number of cases and to put pressure on the virus.
"We won’t be afraid to implement measures specifically in Dublin, if that’s the way forward."
Martin"We did that in Kildare, Offaly and Laois. I know that some counties have low number of cases, and I understand that argument, that there are differences and so the same restrictions shouldn’t apply.
“The new plan has flexibility from that side – we can assess the situation from county to county. The very highest level of restrictions is to implement measures on a national basis.”
One option could see Dublin follow the example of the UK by limiting gatherings to a maximum of six people.
Those six must also only be made up of members from two separate households, rather than the previous limit of three.
