Senior Government ministers will meet later to consider closing schools until the end of the month.
The Cabinet sub-committee on COVID-19 will discuss the proposal before a final decision is made on Wednesday.
The three party leaders along with the Education, Health, Finance and Public Expenditure ministers will attend.
Senior health officials will also be in attendance.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin today confirmed that the prospect of keeping schools closed in January will be on the agenda today.
He told RTÉ News they'll also be looking at further measures to 'reduce mobility' - including potential further restrictions for the construction industry.
The Department of Education previously said it fully intends for schools to re-open on January 11th - but a number of opposition parties have called for that to be delayed by at least a week.
Opposition parties met with Education Minister Norma Foley on Monday to discuss the issue.
Following the meeting, Minister Foley said she noted "the huge efforts made by school communities" in the last term and the successful and safe operation of schools to date.
She said she was "acutely aware" of the challenges facing the re-opening of schools due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, and shares the concerns raised in this regard.
She also said that funding is in place to ensure all schools would be able to meet their PPE costs.
While one secondary school teacher, Eric from Limerick, told Lunchtime Live he does not see how schools can re-open next Monday.
"Based on what we see now, I don't see how schools can go back - I don't see schools going back next week, nevermind in two or three weeks' time".
"We need to be told the number of what's safe: how many cases a day in the general community is deemed a safe number or an acceptable number of transmissions, and what's deemed dangerous.
"We're at thousands at the moment, that's surely dangerous".
It comes as 6,110 new cases of the virus were confirmed on Monday - the highest since the pandemic began - with six further deaths.
This was another new record high for the country.
The previous high was the 4,962 new cases reported on Sunday - by far the highest daily amount Ireland had seen up to then.
The national 14-day incidence rate of the virus in Ireland now stands at 582.8 per 100,000 people.
The seven-day incidence is 443.3 and the five-day moving average is 3,568.
