The Tánaiste has said a decision on increasing coronavirus restrictions in the border counties will be made some time today.

Politicians in Northern Ireland are due to make a decision on increased restrictions in the coming hours amid spiralling COVID-19 numbers in the six counties.

Schools are expected to be closed for two weeks with pubs and restaurants to be limited to takeaway and delivery for a month. Further restrictions on travel are also likely.

It comes as three of the counties along the border – Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan – are reporting the highest coronavirus rates in the Republic.

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said a decision on the border counties will be made later today.

“I haven’t heard yet what the announcement is from Stormont,” he said.

“Once we find out for sure what the Northern Ireland Executive has decided, Government will then respond to that and we will see whether we need to take similar measures or what actions we need to take in relation to the border counties.

“We do out best to align and cooperate with Northern Ireland as best we can but, as you know, the Northern Ireland Executive has not favoured an All-Island approach or a 32-county approach but we do our best to coordinate and cooperate as much as we possibly can.

“As your listeners will know, the incidence of the virus in Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan in particular is very, very high.

“We will have to make a decision probably sometime today as to whether we need to respond with increased measures in the border counties as well.”

"We'll have to make a decision, probably some time today, as to whether we need to respond with increased measures in the border counties as well" - @LeoVaradkar @PatKennyNT #Budget2021 pic.twitter.com/Q6XAmsOIOr

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) October 14, 2020

He said the proposed extra week of school holidays in the North will not influence policy in the south.

“I think it is fair to say that the Government would be very loathe to close schools again," he said.

“We know a lot more about this virus than we did in the spring and we know that schools are relatively safe environments, particularly primary schools.

“The amount of transmission that takes place there is very low and, you know, a lot of countries didn’t close their schools at all during the first wave and they don’t seem to regret it.

“With the exception of Israel there didn’t seem to be major transmission or major issues around schools so, just because the North decides to do that doesn’t necessarily mean that we will.”

"The Government would be very loathe to close schools again ... just because the North decides to do that doesn't necessarily mean we will" - Tanáiste @LeoVaradkar on @PatKennyNT pic.twitter.com/ypFQOTFRWk

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) October 14, 2020

Minister Varadkar said there are currently no plans to change rules that mean larger venues are not permitted to serve more customers than smaller venues.

“I know in Australia they have a four square-metre rule – so, obviously, in a bigger venue, you can have more people and in a smaller venue, it is fewer.

“That is not an approach that is favoured by NPHET at the moment but that’s not to say it is not something that couldn’t be considered into the future.

“Having a set number like six of 15 is easier to enforce of course than a different number that is based on space.”

"To be frank with you Pat, with the trajectory of the virus at the moment, things are going the other way and we're more likely to see a tightening of restrictions in the weeks ahead than a loosening of restrictions" - Tanáiste @LeoVaradkar on @PatKennyNT pic.twitter.com/Pe2z53R0pV

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) October 14, 2020

He warned that, the way things are going, national restrictions are likely to tightened in the coming weeks.

“To be frank with you, with the trajectory of the virus at the moment, things are kind of going the other way and we are more likely to see a tightening of restrictions in the weeks ahead than a loosening of restrictions,” he said.

“But I think we need to keep our minds open absolutely to those kinds of ideas and those solutions.”

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