The Government has been accused of "incompetence" for failing to have legislation prepared for mandatory quarantine in hotels for people entering the country from abroad.
The measure was announced last week for those arriving from Brazil, South Africa, or arrivals who do not have a negative PCR test.
However, the Cabinet heard yesterday the process will be delayed for weeks as legislation needs to be drawn up.
Labour Party leader, Tipperary TD Alan Kelly, said it is a "colossal error".
"If they needed primary legislation, how they haven't dealt with it before now, and it's going to take many more weeks, is shocking.
"It's incompetence and it's absolutely ridiculous. This really will be a significant issue because so many people are going to come into this country while the Government have been twiddling their thumbs, thinking about doing this, but most importantly, not using the time to prepare legislation to implement it."
The mandatory quarantine for international arrivals is part of the country's effort to clamp down on non-essential travel, which has also seen an increased garda presence near airports.
Gardaí have established checkpoints at Dublin Airport and have been issuing fines to people if they cannot provide a valid reason for their journey.
Under current Level 5 restrictions, people should avoid all unnecessary travel but may exercise within 5km of their home.
According to figures from Gardaí, 280 fines were issued at Dublin Airport for non-essential travel between Thursday and Sunday of last week.
Death toll
Despite the delays to mandatory quarantine, the national incidence of the virus has improved in recent weeks following the heightened measures, however the death toll remains a significant worry for public health experts.
Yesterday, 101 Covid-related deaths were reported to the Department of Health, the largest daily increase the State has ever seen. Eighteen of the people died in February, while the remaining 83 deaths occurred in January.
Public health physician Professor Gabriel Scally said the death toll is a tragedy, adding the recent surge in Covid deaths is directly due to restrictions being lifted before Christmas.
"There's so many countries around the world that are not experiencing deaths, and if they are it's a tiny number of people, so as far as I'm concerned any death is avoidable.
"A higher proportional of these [deaths] were undoubtedly avoidable if restrictions had been kept in place during the difficult period at the end of November/December," Prof Scally said.
