Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament, is due to pass emergency laws today to allow authorities to impose lockdown by decree and to forcibly detain people who refused to self-isolate.

The Health Preservation and other Emergency Measures Bill will also provide financial measures to pay illness benefits to those infected with coronavirus, as well as payment if people lose their job as a result of the pandemic.

Only 160 TDDs (MPs), less than a third, will attend in order to maintain social distancing.

On Wednesday, in line with Italy and Spain, the main retail banks agreed to defer mortgages and home repossessions of people stricken with the virus or suffering economically because of it.

The Health Service Executive reported 74 new cases on Wednesday, raising the confirmed total to 366.