A staycation is still the safest bet.

That was the advice from Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney this morning after the Government published a ‘green list’ of countries Irish people can travel to without having to quarantine for 14 days.

While the list includes holiday hotspots such as Greece, Cypris and Monaco, The National Public Health Emergency Team is firmly against all unnecessary travel outside of Ireland.

With 50,000 people leaving Ireland every week, Mr Coveney told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland “we would rather they were not [leaving], but they are”, adding that he had a responsibility to provide a risk rating to ensure people follow the appropriate guidelines based on where they are returning to Ireland from.

Anyone travelling to Ireland from a country that is not on the green list will be subject to random Covid-19 testing at the airport.

The ‘green list’, published following a Cabinet meeting late last night, is as follows:

• Malta
• Finland
• Norway
• Italy
• Hungary
• Estonia
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Cyprus
• Slovakia
• Greece
• Greenland
• Gibraltar
• Monaco
• San Marino.

Passengers arriving at Irish airports from these countries will not be required to quarantine for 14 days.

Yesterday evening the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) confirmed that 36 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, with no additional deaths. There have now been 25,802 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

The ‘green list’ for travel will be reviewed in two weeks.