Another 13 'high-risk' countries have been added to the mandatory 14-day quarantine list.
The latest additions to the list are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Anyone arriving here from those countries will have to self-quarantine for a full 14 days.
People arriving from other countries, in contrast, can stop quarantining if they have a negative COVID-19 test after five days.
Once the necessary legislation is passed by the Oireachtas in the coming weeks, arrivals from the countries on the high risk list will have to quarantine in a hotel.
The bill was passed by the Dáil earlier this week, despite criticism from opposition parties.
In a statement this evening, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: "The Government continues to advise against all non-essential international travel at this time and a range of measures is in place to reinforce this policy.
"If you travel to Ireland from any of the high-risk countries, you must complete a full 14-day quarantine period.
“This applies to all passengers from designated states, regardless of nationality and the aim of this measure is to protect the population from challenges posed by new variants of concern.”
He added that the Government hopes to have mandatory quarantine facilities up-and-running 'as soon as possible' once the necessary bill becomes law.
The current list of 33 'high-risk' countries is: Angola, Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guiana, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of South Africa, Rwanda, Seychelles, Suriname, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
