The Tánaiste has said the way the recommendation from the National Public Health Emergency Team to move to Level 5 "hadn't been thought through and there hadn't been prior consultation".
Speaking on RTÉ's Claire Byrne Live, Leo Varadkar said what happened was not good for the Government, NPHET or the Irish people and he said it "came out of the blue".
The Tánaiste also said there was "nothing new in the space of three days that warranted them changing their advice" to move from a Level 3 to Level 5 status.
Mr Varadkar said there was no suggestion that NPHET was contemplating a move to Level 5 last Thursday, when they last held a meeting.