Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney says travel advice for Irish people is not changing until July 20th.

Currently, Irish citizens are advised against all but essential travel overseas due to the coronavirus pandemic.

There were hopes a so-called 'green list' of safe countries could be published by July 9th, but this has been pushed out.

Mr Coveney also says any list will be based on a number of conditions.

"The criteria for putting countries essentially on a green list will be three-fold.

"The first is the number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants.

"The current figure in Ireland would be probably just under four - which is very, very low and reflects the fact that over the last 14 days we really have seen a very, very low number of positive cases.

"The second criteria is the trend in new cases in comparison to the previous 14 days - so in other words, we want to understand whether it's on the increase, or whether it's being suppressed.

"If we're seeing a dramatic increase but starting from a very, very low number, that's something that needs to be factored in terms of a green listing process.

"And then the third I think is we want to be able to make an assessment - and we'll obviously be speaking to NPHET in relation to this - around the testing, surveillance and contact tracing and the reliability of information in the countries that we're trying to assess."

"And those three criteria will essentially determine, between now and the 20th of July, whether we produce a list of countries where people can travel to and come from without having to self-quarantine for 14 days in Ireland".

He says this will be alongside other measures at airports as well as increased communication with people arriving here.

The list will also be reviewed every two weeks, and will likely change if the health situation in one of those countries escalates.

"For now the advice is very, very clear and people should heed it: don't travel abroad, unless it's essential.

"By complying with that, you are doing your bit in terms of ensuring that we keep people safe though the summer until that advice from the Government changes in the future".

He added: "But we're not in a position to do that now - as I say that is going to be inconvenient for people, that is going to cause frustation.

"But people are looking for clarity from Government, and they're getting it today: the travel advice is not changing".

It comes after the EU published a list of third countries that were deemed safe to travel to.

However Ireland is not a party to the list as it is not a member of the Schengen area.

While the English government has named 59 countries deemed to have low rates of the virus.

But Ireland is already exempt from its isolation procedures as it is part of the Common Travel Area with the UK.

That list  - complied by England without Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - has created a row between devolved administrations there.