The country's test and trace system for COVID-19 is now taking almost four days to complete.
The time it takes from a person being referred for a test to their close contacts being traced was three days at the start of the month.
It has now increased up to 3.8 days, as the demand for testing has risen.
Teresa Heeney, CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, is worried about the impact any delays will have on the childcare sector:
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"It seems to us to what we are hearing from our members that it could be anything from 48 hours to four or five days.
"So we are really concerned that if testing is not made available on an urgent basis for this sector, then simply operators will not be able to keep their services open."
