According to Harris, tradesmen like plumbers and electricians can work from...

The Secretary of State for Higher Education Simon Harris this morning clarified the position on RTÉs Today with Claire Byrne on this matter, stating that people still need to take precautions when there are workers in their home.

He said, “I really want to put this to bed because I get a lot of questions about that too. So, if you’re a plumber, electrician, builder, or painter, go to work.

“And if you do the job and someone says you will work in their house – yes, you can. And that was allowed in the past. ”

From tonight through November 10, a nationwide restriction on household visitors will be put in place as part of the government’s recent attempts to address the worsening situation with Covid-19.

People are advised not to visit other households indoors or in their gardens. Exceptions are made for compassionate reasons and for material reasons such as caring or childcare.

Harris said this morning that although traders are allowed to come home to work during this time, people should still take reasonable precautions.

“So ventilation, try to keep the windows or doors open, wear face masks,” he said. “We also like to have a cup of tea or a biscuit and talk … but that may not be the best at the moment.”

The former health minister said he was aware that people were exhausted and full of limitations, but said we now have a “very small window” to try “not to go back to the very, very restrictive situation that we are we saw in March and April ”.

He urged employers to show leadership and allow people to work from home wherever possible. He also described the new home call restrictions as a potential “game changer” in reversing the worrying trends observed by the virus.

Harris said, “What we are trying to do here is make sure people can have Christmas and that we can try to get together with friends and family in some way over Christmas. We try to do that. To do what we did in the first wave, to come up with it, suppress it and bring the numbers back down.

“We strongly believe that if people heed the advice we are asking now, particularly regarding household visits and working from home, we have the potential to change that radically.”