People could soon be fined between €20 and €100 for breaking public health rules.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says he is going to bring in new fines for breaches of the COVID-19 guidelines, but these will not apply to house parties.

Minister Donnelly says the sanctions available under the Health Act - including a large fine or jail time for failing to wear a face covering - are too severe.

He says Gardaí will continue to use their existing powers under the Public Order Act to deal with house parties.

He plans to amend the law to allow for fines of between €20 and €100 for those who break public health rules.

He says the powers Gardaí have now under existing legislation should be enough to tackle house parties.

"I will be introducing legislation shortly which will add a table of penalties to the 1947 Health Act, which essentially will allow for more appropriate measures: for example a €20, a €50 or €100 fine."

"We would be looking, for example, with non-compliance on face covering wearings for example of having fines - it's what other countries do.

"The current powers in Ireland, the 1947 Act, is unwieldy in this case".

"We will be looking at bringing in a new schedule of fines, including for other compliance measures.

"The flip-side is that it does mean that the enforcement powers are less - there will not be penalties attaching to house parties - however the Gardaí have done a very good job and most people can be encouraged to comply and the Gardaí do have other powers, public order powers and others, that can be used where appropriate."