New nationwide COVID restrictions will be announced by the government tonight.
Senior Ministers are meeting with health officials at the moment to finalise the details of new restrictions for the country.
It's expected a level four plus system will be placed on the entire country.
Schools are set to stay open but most non-essential retail will close under the new restrictions.
The cabinet sub-committee has been meeting ahead of a full cabinet meeting at 4pm.
Some Ministers have suggested there needs to be a lead-in period for a number of days for the new restrictions to allow businesses to make plans.
Travel limits are also to be discussed with people potentially being limited to going no further than 5 or 10 kilometres from their homes.
*Reporting by Seán Defoe
