Almost 12,000 people flew into Dublin Airport in the first week of February, according to new figures from the Department of Transport.
The previous month's figures showed that 60% of those passing through were travelling for non-essential purposes.
Meanwhile Professor Sam McConkey, Infectious Disease Specialist at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, told The Last Word that the pandemic could go on for "three to five years", and that vaccines alone won't stop the problem.
He was joined by Aoife Moore, political correspondent with the Irish Examiner, to discuss how the vaccination programme might impact travel restrictions going forward.
