Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said no one in Government was prepared for a Level 5 recommendation and it did come as a shock when it proposed by the National Public Hospital Emergency Team last Sunday.
He said Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will make a statement on the issue later today.
He said he did not know what NPHET was discussing at its meeting today as he does not interfere in its deliberations.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Varadkar said there was not even an inkling that Level 5 was being considered.
The first several ministers heard about the recommendation was on RTÉ News on Sunday night, Mr Varadkar said.
The Tánaiste said the recommendation was not within the parameters of the Government's plan, which is based on a step-by-step escalation.
The Government was acting to tackle the virus and had moved the entire country to Level 3 last Monday, he said.
The Tánaiste claimed he never said a bad word about the Chief Medical Officer and he has immense respect for him.
He said that the leak of NPHET's recommendation to move the country to Level 5 restrictions had led to "fear anxiety and panic for hundreds of thousnnds of people who thought they would be out of work the next day".
The Tánaiste said there would be "collective action" to tackle the virus and said the testing infrastructure was being put in place for 100,000 tests per day.
Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty accuses the Tánaiste of engaging in "dangerous" behaviour in relation to his comments on NPHET and the Chief Medical Officer on Monday evening, and adds that the Government’s Winter Plan "will fail" | More: https://t.co/zfdSU4xYSb pic.twitter.com/lt7HArpIul
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 8, 2020
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he has confidence in Stephen Donnelly.
Speaking after a working lunch at Farmleigh with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, Mr Martin added that he has agreed with Chief Medical Officer to keep in touch about the appropriate level of restrictions.
The Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has said he knew on Saturday that NPHET would meet and got a sense on Sunday afternoon that "there may be a consideration of levels".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Eamon Ryan said, like everyone else, he found out about the Level 5 recommendation on Sunday evening.
He said the Government was not ignoring public health advice by choosing to put the country at Level 3, but needed to take other issues into account when making that choice.
Mr Ryan said it will take a period of time for these restrictions to kick in and an increase in restrictions in Kildare, Laois and Offaly was successful.
He said everyone must work collectively to bring the numbers down.
Latest coronavirus stories
Level 5 row: Who knew what and when?
Opposition parties have called on the Government to clarify what it knew at the weekend about the rising level of concern in NPHET about the increase in Covid-19 cases.
Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne, Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald called for "absolute clarity" from the Minister for Health, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste about what they knew and when in relation to concerns of NPHET and the Chief Medical Officer over the weekend.
Ms McDonald said it is "very concerning" that Mr Donnelly, Mr Varadkar and Taoisecah Micheál Martin were aware of the level of concerns that NPHET had.
She said: "It is more concerning again, it seems a broadside was taken against NPHET, and perhaps the CMO in particular, and the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach remained silent and the Tánaiste was the instigator of that broadside. This isn't a way to do business."
"A political whodunnit" is not a priority for people during a time of "high anxiety, when businesses are at the pin of their collar", Ms McDonald said.
She appealed to the Government to be "upfront" about the "full facts of what happened". "We need to make sure this does not happen again", she said.
"What none of us need is a contrived spat between the Government and NPHET. You don't attack those who have given you the expert opinion that you have sought from them."
Labour Leader Alan Kelly called on Mr Donnelly to make a statement in the Dáil today to detail what he knew about NPHET's thinking last weekend.
Mr Kelly also wants the Taoiseach to clarify what his understanding was last Sunday.
These calls were echoed by other parties, with Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall asking when the minister and the Taoiseach told the Tánaiste about NPHET's deliberations.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Shortall also said Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly needs to make a statement to explain clearly what he knew and why he did not take the appropriate action over the weekend.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says the Level 3 Covid-19 measures "might be working in Dublin" where the R number is down to around 1, but it will be the best part of 10 days before we know if it is working elsewhere | More: https://t.co/zfdSU4xYSb pic.twitter.com/xP6ZdIHqNn
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 8, 2020
Dr Holohan said last night that he was "deeply concerned" by the spread of the coronavirus since Sunday when NPHET recommended the country be placed at Level 5, the highest level of restrictions.
Health officials said there has been a "significant deterioration" as the disease is growing by 4% each day.
It is predicted that if nothing changes, the number of daily cases could reach around 1,300 at the start of next month.
Dr Holohan has said he was more concerned about the path of the virus now, as all of the key indicators have worsened since Sunday.
He emphasised the importance of people following the measures to help control the spread of the disease.
The group will discuss the trajectory of the virus and consider whether further recommendations are needed.
It was also confirmed that Mr Martin has been in contact with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about Covid-19 rates in Nothern Ireland and the restrictions here.
More than 1,400 new cases of the virus were reported on the island yesterday, with 828 in Northern Ireland and 611 in the Republic.
The contact is set to continue over the coming days.
The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister spoke this morning. There was an emphasis on achieving as much co-operation as possible to tackle rising Covid-19 cases both here and in Northern Ireland.
Discussions between the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and the Northern Ireland CMO are likely to take place later.
Additional reporting Laura Hogan
