The new rules are due to come in this month.

Earlier this week it was announced that anyone found to be taking a non essential trip abroad will be fined €500. The new travel rules came into effect on Tuesday and now others, including hotel quarantining for high-risk travelers, are planned for later on this month. Hotel quarantining is set to be introduced in the coming weeks for travelers coming from high risk countries, where there is a variant such as Brazil and South Africa, and for those who arrive in the country without a negative PCR test by mid-February. Speaking on the new measures to reduce the number of Covid cases in the country, Taoiseach Michael Martin said;

"The mandatory quarantining in terms of the hotel facilities, is the next stage and work is already underway in relation to that. We do accept that the variants have changed the landscape in relation to this virus, very significantly, and we are in a race, in respect of rolling out the vaccination program, the prolonged suppression of the virus itself, and reducing all potential for its spread."

Under new regulations, passengers who arrive from any destination must also quarantine for 14 days either at home or at an address specified on their Passenger Locator Form. Failure to do so can be penalised by a fine of up to €2,500, six months in prison, or both. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that people subjected to mandatory quarantine should self-isolate within their homes to assist in protecting those around them but ultimately that people should avoid non essential travel entirely for the foreseeable future.