A booking system for mandatory hotel quarantine has been temporarily suspended, the Government has confirmed.
The Department of Health and Tifco Hotel Group, who holds the contract, have agreed to "temporarily pause" the mandatory hotel quarantine booking portal.
The department said this has been done as a "precautionary measure" to allow further assessment of capacity within the mandatory hotel quarantine system for the coming days.
People who have already made their booking for mandatory hotel quarantine are not affected.
While bookings can still be made for dates from Monday April 19th onwards.
In a statement, the Government said: "The temporary pause will be kept under ongoing review should additional capacity become available.
"The public health advice remains strongly against all non-essential international travel.
"Mandatory hotel quarantine is a public health measure put into place in order to protect Ireland from importation of COVID-19, particularly variants of concern."
Four hotels are currently designated as mandatory quarantine facilities.
However the number of countries on the quarantine list has increased in recent weeks.
The latest updates included countries like the US, Canada, France, Italy and Belgium.
Any passenger who has been in any of these countries in the previous 14 days, even if only transiting through them, must undergo mandatory quarantine.
It also comes after it was revealed that Erasmus students returning to Ireland would have their hotel quarantine paid for by the State, at a cost of around €1m.
Around 500 students are currently abroad in countries included on the mandatory quarantine list as part of the EU programme.
Many had warned that they would not be able to afford the €1,875 cost of the 12-night stay.
