Leo Varadkar “sceptical” over need for new restrictions as cabinet meets

They are meeting today.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that he is "sceptical" that any new restrictions are needed to be introduced across the country as of now. Speaking to the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday night, Varadkar said that the current Covid situation is "stable or improving slightly", RTE reports. He added that the country is doing "substantially better" than the optimistic scenarios given by Nphet or case numbers and hospital figures, including ICU and the number of deaths. It is due to this that the Tánaiste is sceptical that putting new restrictions on "people’s freedoms, family life and businesses would be warranted at this time." While he noted this, Varadkar also noted that there are concerns that the situation could change drastically in the lead up to Christmas, and "would go wrong from a very high base." He added that there was a genuine cause for concern when it comes to people socialising more over the Christmas period and the Government would be watching closely as to what Nphet would be saying as they meet this morning. Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that there are some encouraging signs that cases are stabilising in Ireland, but it is still at a very high level. Public health officials are set to meet today to consider new restrictions to keep Covis-19 under control over Christmas, with Nphet expected to discuss new curbs needed as Omicron has arrived in Ireland. It is not expected that a full lockdown-style list of restrictions will be implemented but they will however be looking to curb socialising and reduce crowding in hospitality over the holiday season. This could see the capacity limits for indoor hospitality settings reduced with restrictions on booking sizes and reduced opening hours, with stricter rules on Covid certs coming into play. It is also likely that advice on household visits will also be considered.