Tánaiste on with Pat Kenny.

Says gatherings, intercounty travel, hospitality, non-compliance and the UK variant all combined to cause the surge in #COVID19 cases.

Varadkar says "we know" that 18-24 year olds have the highest incidence rate...

Pat Kenny trying to do what he does best in analytically tease out the schools issue.

Varadkar: "It is already illegal to drink in the streets of Dublin and Cork."

Tánaiste says they're working on new regulations to give gardaí more powers to enforce and stop gatherings and drinking in public.

Varadkar says publicans selling pint glasses with a lid on it is "not on" and clearly isn't meant to be consumed at home.

"Most of the time we got most things right" says Leo Varadkar.

Varadkar says he knows the Leaving Cert announcement will "have come as a surprise". He says the Education Minister will engage with unions in the coming days.

Varadkar once again commits to publishing vaccine numbers.

Asked if the communications around the rollout have been good enough?

"Give us a couple of weeks. It's fair to compare us to other EU countries. I think people will see us catch up on peer countries."