The Health Minister has played down any rift between the National Public Health Emergency Team and the Government over implementing Covid restrictions.
That is despite Tánaiste Leo Varadkar saying the proposals from chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan were "not thought through".
Every county in Ireland will enter Level Three restrictions from midnight tonight.
However, they rejected the Level Five measures proposed by NPHET. The group had recommended that the country be placed under the stricter Covid-19 restrictions for a period of four weeks.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly played down any rift between the public health officials and politicians.
"No, this hasn't damaged the relationship [between NPHET and the Government]," said Mr Donnelly. "We live in unprecedented times and the types of decisions Government is being asked to consider and the types of decisions that are being made, and that we are all talking about now, are unprecedented decisions."
He added: "I would expect robust debate and interrogation."
