Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said the easing of Covid-19 restrictions from next month will happen on a phased basis, adding that he will be pushing for a "more ambitious and quicker reopening" in the months ahead.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Mr Varadkar said that the aim should be to fully lift all Covid-19 restrictions this year, adding they would not be lifted at a "risky or reckless pace".
"I think it will be phased. I don’t think we’ll just remove all restrictions at the end of January and start of February," he said.
"I think we're coming to a point where we need to move on," the Tánaiste said, adding "we’ve had very strict restrictions in Ireland for two years now".
"If you take last summer and the summer before that we had the strictest rules in Europe. I don’t think that should be the case this summer," he said, adding he would be pushing for a more "ambitious and quicker reopening over the next couple of months".
"Nothing risky, nothing reckless, but certainly something that is in line with our European peers," he said.
He was speaking as the Department of Health confirmed 10,753 PCR-positive Covid-19 cases, while 4,208 positive antigen tests were also logged through the HSE portal.
The number of people being treated in hospital stood at 965 as of 8am this morning, an increase of 25 on yesterday. Of those in hospital, 88 were in ICU, which is down one on yesterday.
Mr Varadkar said there have been times the Government acted out of an abundance of caution, but that this could sometimes be "excess" which needed to be avoided.
"On many occasions we’ve acted out of an abundance of caution. But sometimes an abundance of caution can be an excess of caution. We need to avoid that and I’m very keen to see the reopening happening at an ambitious pace in the next few months," he said.
"I have to caveat that by the truth unfortunately," he said, adding that immunity will wain and more variants may arise.
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"Even though I’m very much in favour of easing restrictions as rapidly as we possibly can, we need to make sure we are able to respond rapidly as well, if there is a resurgence of the virus. This isn’t over yet"
Meanwhile, a further three people who previously tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland have died, the Department of Health said.
Another 2,518 confirmed cases of the virus were also recorded in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
Omicron does not cause 'as much disease and death', says expert
Prof Sam McConkey, an Infectious Disease Specialist and Head of the Department of International Health and Tropical Medicine at the RCSI University, said they have seen over the last four weeks or so that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 does not cause "as much disease and death" as seen in previous waves of the virus.
Speaking on RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor programme, Prof McConkey said they are not seeing Type 1 respiratory failure as much with Omicron cases.
He said there still could be a "bumpy road" ahead and a public health infrastructure that prepares Ireland for future pandemics - including another coronavirus wave - is needed.
He said he hopes that some restrictions, such as the 8pm closure of the hospitality sector, could be lifted in a few months.
"I'm hoping there will be widespread outdoor music festivals in the summer... which obviously a lot of us would look forward to," Prof McConkey said.
"I think there will be a lot of the things we really value and cherish [returning] back to normal, but still some adaptations," he added.
University Hospital Limerick has announced that visiting restrictions are in place as the hospital deals with an outbreak of Covid-19.
The UL Hospitals Group said that three wards are affected but they are restricting visiting on all inpatient wards at UHL, as a precautionary measure.
