The Health Service Executive has said the risk of a case of Ebola coming into Ireland is low, but directions for preparedness have been circulated to all acute hospitals.
Ministers operating under the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning will report to Cabinet today on the evolving situation regarding the deadly virus.
In a statement yesterday afternoon, the HSE said anyone returning to Ireland from West Africa is advised to look out for fever, headaches and body aches for three weeks after their return and if they get sick within that time they should contact their doctor and tell them of the recent travel.
The National Isolation Centre, based at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, is the national referral centre for high-risk suspected and confirmed cases of infectious diseases, like Ebola.
The HSE also said the National Virus Laboratory is fully equipped to diagnose Ebola in the unlikely event of a case appearing here.
Speaking on Prime Time yesterday evening Dr Tony Holohan said if an Ebola case was to reach Ireland, the country is prepared "both from a public health point of view and from a clinical point of view".
Dr Holohan said screening people for the virus is not recommended "as a general measure for Western countries."
The incubation period of Ebola is 21 days he said.
He said the majority of people screened would come through asymptomatic, meaning their symptoms would not be picked up.
"It is much less effective than exit-screening which is recommended, and is in place in these countries.
"In other words, screening of people who are leaving these countries and to identify people who are sick.
"When that is in place, it is not recommended as a routine and in this country we do not have direct passenger flights from that part of the world" he said.
The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children will hold a meeting with Health Minister Leo Varadkar and Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan next Thursday on preparations to deal with a potential Ebola outbreak.
Committee chairman Jerry Buttimer TD said: “It is important that people's fears about a potential outbreak of the virus are allayed and calmed."
