A former president of the Irish Medical Organisation has criticised the publication of the travel green list - saying it has 'confused the public'.
Dr Martin Daly says the Government had done well in giving "very clear messages to people about the rules of engagement on how to defeat this coronavirus".
However, he said the travel issue has confused things for many people.
He was speaking after the Government agreed to a list of 15 European countries and territories deemed safe to travel to: Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Greenland, Gibraltar, Monaco, and San Marino.
While people arriving here from those countries will not have to self-isolate for 14 days, the Government is continuing to urge people to only travel abroad for essential reasons.
Dr Daly told Lunchtime Live that the seriousness of the pandemic still cannot be underestimated.
He said: “People have sacrificed an awful lot - they’ve sacrificed economically, socially, personally, at every single level. The economic consequences, the personal consequences and the health consequences of this pandemic are going to be with us for a long time.
“The one thing the Government had done well up until now… it had given very clear messages to people about the rules of engagement on how to defeat this coronavirus.
“This travel issue has confused the issue for many people."
He said he feels "real sympathy" for people who've booked holidays abroad, and stressed that we can't afford to judge anyone for their decisions.
However, he said: "If this virus surges again, we only have to look at the devastating consequences for people in certain parts of the United States, India, Brazil or South Africa.
“We’re not exceptional. This idea that we’re exceptional and it won’t happen here is a fallacy.
"We can make ourselves exceptional by continuing to drive against this virus."
Dr Daly said he has no problem with some flexibility around essential travel, whether for personal reasons or trade reasons.
However, he told Ciara: “You have people who will grab on to this because they’re desperate - they’ve been locked down and been restricted in their movement, and they feel they’ve been given the green light to go. I can’t blame them, just as much as I don’t blame young people who have parties because they’ve been locked down for three months.
“I want to recognise there are enormous pressures on our Government and politicians, in that there are huge and devastating economic consequences.
“But I think it was best put by the Secretary General of the OECD - he said the first and only aim should be to defeat this virus, so you do not have repeated surges and shutdowns. That would be even more economically and socially devastating."
He called on the Government to “hold their nerve” and continue efforts to suppress the virus here.
