The Rural Independent Group of TDs raised the issue of reopening religious services, warning that people are being ‘profoundly damaged’ by the closure of public worship.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Deputy McGrath said public worship, “brings a peace and a solitude and spiritual nourishment to people.”

“They have been locked out of this in a meaningful way for almost 12 months like everything else now,” he said.

“Especially in the season of Easter, people like to be able to go to their places of worship and indeed to be involved and engaged.”

The rural TDs have written to the Taoiseach asking for the scientific evidence supporting the ban on public worship, warning that the absence of published data has “led many to conclude that it is backed less by science and more by an inability to grasp the fundamental constitutional importance of public worship.”

In a reply from the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, the group was told that it is “not feasible to provide reliable estimates of the impact on R of very specific interventions.”

As a result, the group is calling for a move away from the “the harshest and most draconian possible approach” to a “more prudent and responsible” one.