The Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman says public health guidelines were successful in containing a COVID-19 case in a north Dublin creche.
It is understood the creche worker who tested positive did not have any symptoms at the time.
Parents of the children have been informed and appropriate testing is underway.
Minister O'Gorman told Newstalk Breakfast: "I do think what this single case has shown is that the public health guidance that is in place for all creches actually works.
"The HSE and Tusla, as inspector of creches, were notified immediately once this illness became known.
"All children in that particular pod - that is the group in which the children in that creche were being looked after together - all those children were sent home, and indeed all the staff who had contact with this staff member were sent home.
"But because the creche was following the public health guidelines, only the children who are in that pod and only a certain number of staff had had contact with this individual or had contact with each other.
"It's important to say there have been no other diagnoses of COVID among those children, or the other staff.
"But any potential COVID would have been contained within that group".
"We're looking at what has happened in this instance and, as I said, we're looking at - to date - the success of following the public health guidelines in containing what happened here.
"And obviously we want to ensure that when schools open, they can do so in the safest way possible".
Professor Sam McConkey is head of the department of international health at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
He said children usually are not considered high risk.
"Fortunately this virus doesn't seem to affect children as much as elderly people.
"As we know it's been a horrible thing in our country, but by and large all the sort of mortality and morbidity has been really in elderly people."
"Thankfully this isn't so much a disease of children".
"Obviously the worry would be that anyone who travels could bring it back from abroad and then spread it to other asymptomatic contacts who are young and healthy and maybe don't get very sick.
"But then they could spread it to their parents and grandparents and start an outbreak.
"So to me, it's more of a public health issue meaning that it introduces a virus into our community.
"And that's why it's great that we're having this test [which] obviously was done of the person who had the test, the test result was found and obviously there's been very rapid and thorough follow up.
"Now the children, and perhaps others that have been contact - like parents - are being offered testing as well.
"And that's what we should be doing".
