An emergency bill would give the Health Minister the power to seal off parts of the country hit by covid-19 infection.
It was approved by the government last night and will be considered by the Dáil on Thursday.
Other measures include powers to ban public gatherings and detain people if a doctor says they could spread infection.
Liam Herrick, executive director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, says the Oireachtas needs to consider the human rights implications.
"These are very extreme powers.
"Clearly we are in an emergency situation, but we need to ensure the detail of each of those powers is very tightly drawn, and particularly with the power to prohibit events.
"The power as currently is in the draft is quite broad. I think we will need to look carefully to make sure that it's not open to an overly broad or excessive application"
