The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) has called for the compulsory wearing of face masks on all public transport as Ireland begins to ease Covid-19 restrictions. As well as current cleaning and social distancing procedures on public transport, the NBRU has told the National Transport Authority that all commuters should wear face masks while travelling and that frontline transport workers should be temperature checked before starting their shift.

Minister for Protection Regina Doherty has said that the current level of payments for people who have lost all or part of their income due to the coronavirus restrictions are unsustainable in the long-term. As it stands, 598,000 people are now receiving the special Covid-19 unemployment payment. The department said this was on top of about 205,000 on the live register in receipt of jobseeker's benefit.

Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin and Eamon Ryan met for preliminary discussions yesterday when it was agreed to begin talks on drafting a programme for government this Thursday. The move comes after the Green Party said over the weekend it would enter into programme for government discussions with the two parties.

SIPTU has urged the Government to reopen crèches before the scheduled date of 29 June to assist essential workers facing childcare difficulties. The union's Health Division Organiser Paul Bell also called for workers to be compensated for having to use up their annual leave entitlement for childminding obligations by giving them an "annual leave credit" to use later this year.

From today, a two-hour period between 1.30 pm and 3.30 pm will be reserved in all parks across Dublin city and county for people who are cocooning. This includes those who are over-70 and medically vulnerable people.

The Irish Refugee Council has described the number of people sharing bedrooms in Direct Provision centres during Covid-19 as “deeply concerning”. The Department of Justice & Equality confirmed yesterday that 1,700 people living in Direct Provision continue to share a bedroom with non-family members.

Lastly, for a moment of zen, families across Italy are reuniting after months apart as the country slowly begins to ease restrictions. Here’s just one such example of a 5 year old meeting her grandparents after more than two months apart. Stay safe everyone.