Education officials, union representatives and management bodies will meet today to discuss the reopening of schools.
The Association of Secondary Teachers says it's deeply concerned the Education Minister's going ahead with Thursday's reopening without putting additional Covid safety measures in place.
The teachers union is calling for staggered re-opening dates at at time when many staff are isolating.
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A professor of medicine at UCD says vaccination is not going to prevent transmission of the Omicron variant.
Jack Lambert expects the virus numbers will go up as Omicron is five times more contagious than the previous version.
16,986 new cases of covid 19 have been confirmed, with 804 patients in hospital, including 93 in ICU.
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The Health Minister is welcoming new minimum pricing laws for alcohol which take effect today.
Stephen Donnelly says the minimum price is directly proportionate to the amount of pure alcohol in the drink.
There will be a minimum cost based on grams of alcohol, with one gram costing at least 10 cent.
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Temperatures look set to drop in the coming days.
The mild spell of weather experienced over the Christmas period is likely to end today.
