"I know that’s tough..."

The Tánaiste has advised people not to book flights home to Ireland for Christmas yet. Leo Varadkar told the Dáil today that it is "too soon" for people to be booking flights home given the dangers international travel could pose. "I think in terms of people booking flights for Christmas to come home, I'd advise them not to do that at the moment," he said. "I know that’s difficult, I know that’s tough, but Christmas is six weeks away and it is too soon now for people to be booking flights to come home." Varadkar said that the threat of Covid "reseeding" in the community is too great, and that at the moment, 'international travel is a risk." “I think we need to be upfront and honest about that," he said. “There is a risk that as we get down to very low levels again that the country could be reseeded by people travelling in from overseas." Varadkar added that there may also be a considerable risk for those travelling between the Republic and Northern Ireland. “There’s perhaps a higher risk at the moment of people engaged in North-South travel, where a different approach is being taken in Northern Ireland, that we could be reseeded from Northern Ireland," he said. This comes in the middle of Ireland's second total lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. Level 5 restrictions are expected to be loosened at the start of December, however it remains to be seen what this year's Christmas will look like. Meanwhile, there are concerns that Ireland's airports may not be equipped to provide adequate amounts of Covid testing. These tests will come as part of the new EU traffic light system that will be implemented in Ireland this month.