Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he believes that there has been an "overreaction" to the new regulations for pubs and restaurants.
He was speaking after controversy erupted over temporary measures that require restaurants and pubs serving food to retain records of all food orders for 28 days.
The move has been sharply criticised by pub and restaurant owners, with some describing it as "bureaucracy gone mad" and "ridiculous".
Speaking to reporters in Dublin this afternoon, Mr Martin said the regulations would be in place "for a short duration" and the Government had no interest in knowing what people are eating at bars.
"We now have guidance on how to enable all pubs to reopen and when they do the new regulation becomes redundant," he said.
Mr Martin said the Government has received guidance from public health experts about the reopening of all pubs, which he said it wants to put to representative bodies to make sure they are "practical and implementable on the ground".
"We want the pubs to reopen. We want people to be back at matches again in reasonable numbers. All of that will form the wider plan on how we deal with Covid over the next 9-12 months," he said.
Mr Martin said that they want to protect existing businesses who are obeying the rules and to avoid rogue operators out there.
The Taoiseach added: "There are limits to how you regulate human behaviour."
He said Ireland's capacity to deal with Covid-19 depends on people adhering to rules and their personal behaviour, which he said will form the basis of the Government's approach to the next phase.
Mr Martin said: "Our approach over the next phase will be based on personal behaviour. We can't over regulate; we don't want to over regulate.
"We don't want to regulate people's behaviour, but we do want to get into a fair situation for all who are operating.
"Above all, we have to emphasise the importance of personal behaviour in preventing the spread of this virus."
Earlier, the Tánaiste has said there was no requirement for restaurants or pubs that are serving food to keep an individual record of what everyone eats.
Leo Varadkar said it was a requirement that they are able to produce evidence that a substantial meal was served.
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"We have had some instances, a small number of instances, of pubs operating as restaurants that really weren't doing that at all," he said.
"And this is designed to crack down on misbehaviour by a small number of pubs operating as restaurants, not to inconvenience the vast majority of pubs and restaurants that have done an amazingly good job at implementing the public health recommendations."
He said most restaurants and pubs have been open now for months and there has been only one cluster of infection of any significance in restaurants.
Mr Varadkar said: "So I want to recognise that the hospitality industry has done a really good job in keeping us safe and implementing those recommendations and this isn't designed to inconvenience them in any way and I think has been a little bit misinterpreted."
He dismissed suggestions from reporters that the Government might be forced to rescind the regulation, saying it remains in place until 13 September when it expires, at which point it will be decided whether or not it needs to continue.
Asked when he thinks "wet pubs" might be able to reopen, Mr Vardakar said he could not give a date at this stage.
The Minister for Health said the measures are aimed at pubs that are "flouting" the rules around serving food with orders of alcohol.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Stephen Donnelly said the measures have been introduced as a mechanism to enforce public health guidelines.
He said the only place it will be used is in pubs that do not serve food and are flouting the rules.
The minister said it means these pubs can be asked to produce till receipts to show they are serving food if there is a doubt around whether they are.
Minister Donnelly said the vast majority of pubs are complying with public health guidelines that stipulate a substantial meal must be ordered with alcohol, and he said that restaurants already print and keep receipts so there is no extra burden on them.
In relation to asking for people's names and telephone numbers, the minister said this had been in place for some time and is to do with contact tracing to keep both customers and staff safe.
He said the measures are only temporary and would only be in place until pubs that do not serve food can reopen.
Pubs are allowed to open if they serve "substantial" meals costing not less than €9.
Earlier, the chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said the measures "came out of the blue" and without any communication or consultation with the industry.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Cummins said despite some clarification from the Government Information Services late last night, the matter is an additional regulatory burden for business owners at a time when they are fearful of losing their business.
He said the association will continue to ask its members to adhere to public health advice "in the best interests of Ireland and customers" and to get business back up and running.
He said the industry also needs more financial assistance "to keep our businesses open into the future".
The Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI), representing rural publicans, said the temporary rule, contained in a statutory instrument introduced yesterday, is "bureaucracy gone mad".
The statutory instrument also includes the extension of closing time for pubs to 11.30pm.
Labour leader Alan Kelly said the measure is "completely bonkers" and should be reversed.
Speaking on the same programme he said: "I worry about this Cabinet thinking going forward and we need a Government that maintains public confidence."
He said the measure has made him wonder "when did eating food became linked to public health measures?"
Gardaí/HSE can see your eating/drink records for 28 days under these new regulations by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly: pic.twitter.com/2XY6KYO82U
— Fergal Bowers (@FergalBowers) September 3, 2020
Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív said trying to "create safety by more bureaucracy" is not the way to go and the Government needs to "impress upon people what they have to do for their own personal safety" and of those around them.
Mr Ó Cuív said there is a very small minority of owners and customers who have abused the regulations and put society at risk.
He said gardaí cannot police every pub and restaurant and people need to decide themselves on what is safe and only go to places that are following guidelines.
Sinn Féin's health spokesperson called the measure "bonkers ... crackers ... and a step too far".
David Cullinane said Mr Donnelly would be better served producing a plan on how to deliver cancer services, rather than confusing both publicans and their customers.
Additional reporting Helen Donohue
