A child psychotherapist says taking away social interactions is affecting the development of children.
It's as the government rolled out advice to parents earlier this week, to limit social interactions and playdates to once a week.
The move was met by criticism by childcare experts, who say playtime is just as important as class time for the development of our young people.
Speaking to Beat News, Enniscorthy-based Child Psychotherapist Nattie Bowie agrees:
"Play is the language of children, so that's how they interact, that's how they socialize."
"So being able to connect with each other and all the other things that are important in their life - that's where their social development is happening."
Meanwhile, Government restrictions on children's social interactions are already having an effect on businesses.
That's according to the manager of one of the South-East's largest entertainment complexes.
Activate in Waterford are currently operating at 40% capacity, but already have had their business cut hard as parents have been told to cut indoor social interactions for kids to once a week.
Speaking to Beat News, Bernard Deegan says they're already seeing the effects of this week's decision.
"50% of this weekend's bookings have been wiped since the decision. I think there is just a fear out there because of children restricting, some adults might do the same."
