The Minister for Agriculture has said there is "a lot of work going on" to ensure that schools will reopen in September.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Dara Calleary said he understood the frustration being felt by parents, but it is "important that this is done properly".
Mr Calleary said "getting school communities back" and doing that safely was the Government's "number one priority".
He said Minister for Education Norma Foley was engaging with education partners and Taoiseach Micheál Martin had made it clear that schools were a key priority.
Speaking on the same programme, Labour's Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform spokesperson Ged Nash criticised Minister Foley's "gobbledygook".
He said a translator is needed to make sense of what she said earlier this week about the reopening of schools and the Leaving Cert results.
On international travel, Minister Calleary said the advice from the Government remained that non-essential travel is not recommended.
He said the country needed to learn to live with the virus, and the 'green' list of countries deemed safe to travel to and from, is being published in that context.
Mr Calleary said "there was quite a lot of follow-up" in relation to the passenger locator forms being filled out by those entering the country.
Sinn Féin's Enterprise spokesperson Louise O'Reilly said there was "chaos at the heart of the Government", which was evident in its handling of international travel.
Speaking on the same programme, she said clarity was needed for people who have holidays booked this summer, and the "mixed messages" coming from the Government were not helpful.
Ms O'Reilly said temperature checks should be carried out at airports, and the Government must ensure that quarantine was being enforced where it was in place.
Mr Nash said there needs to be more stringent quarantine measures and mandatory testing at Irish airports.
Deputy Nash said "serious and firm" quarantine enforceability is needed to reassure people that we "can get a grip on this", especially for those coming here from countries with higher caseloads of the virus.
'We've heard a lot about green lists but not a lot about red lists’. @geraldnash speaking on #rtetwip expresses the need for more clarity in relation to travel. #greenlist #rtenews #rtepolitics pic.twitter.com/L3BvmE1OER
— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) July 19, 2020
He said there is a huge amount of confusion over travel arrangements and people are worried about what to do if they have holidays booked.
Solidarity People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the Government's travel policy makes no sense and it needs to clarify what is meant by essential travel and have "real checks at ports and airports" to ensure this is happening.
Deputy Boyd Barrett said that "human health needs to come before Ryanair profits" and for now the Government should decide to allow no tourists come into the country.
PBP TD @RboydBarrett says the government's policy on travel makes no sense, there are mixed messages and they need to clarify things for people. #rtetwip #rtepolitics pic.twitter.com/boyMmmu88A
— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) July 19, 2020
He said it makes no sense to publish a 'green' list of countries safe to travel to when the public health advice is clear that outward non-essential travel should not happen.
