There are no plans to bring forward the reopening of outdoor hospitality for pubs, restaurants and cafés from Monday 7 June, the Tánaiste has said.
Leo Varadkar was speaking on Newstalk, following calls for outdoor dining and drinking to return ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
It follows gatherings of large crowds in areas of Dublin, Cork and Galway at the weekend.
Earlier, the chief executive of DublinTown, which represents businesses in Dublin city centre, said he would like to see plans for outdoor drinking and dining to be brought in sooner than next Monday.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Richard Guiney said: "If there was an opportunity to bring it in for the full weekend, I think that would certainly assist us".
Mr Guiney also said there was a need to look at a temporary change in licensing laws that allows for patrons to be accommodated within a particular space to consume alcohol, which will identify those who are turning up with off-license alcohol.
Fianna Fáil's Jim O'Callaghn told RTÉ's Drivetime said he would not oppose an earlier reopening for hospitality, but he said he thought there would be logistical problems for business owners to be ready to reopen this Friday.
Mr O'Callaghan also called for public parks to be kept open late to allow for people to be "dispersed" from other areas in Dublin city centre.
Meanwhile Taoiseach Micheál Martin is hopeful progress made tackling the Covid-19 pandemic can continue, and the reopening of the economy and society during the summer will be maintained in a phased and safe manner, a spokesperson has said.
However Mr Martin said Ireland needs to maintain the progress of recent weeks - advancing the vaccination roll-out and abiding by public health advice.
A Government spokesman said the Taoiseach believes that the guidelines for the reopening of outdoor hospitality next month will provide a structure for this to happen in a safe way.
Mr Martin said the vaccination programme, Covid-19 infections and the impact on our hospitals would be reviewed at the end of June before the green light would be given to further easing of restrictions in July.
Meanwhile, public health experts, gardaí and political figures have appealed to people to continue to observe public health guidelines.
Crowds around South William Street in Dublin were dispersed by gardaí.
Read more:
Latest coronavirus stories
The Director of City Recovery with Dublin City Council has said if more facilities such as toilets and bins are provided in Dublin, and other city locations, then more crowds will be driven to those areas.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Cóilín O'Reilly said the local authority is keen to facilitate an outdoors summer and does not want to close streets.
Mr O'Reilly said people who gathered in the city centre were not doing what the Government has asked, and that thousands of people enjoyed public spaces over the weekend with no issues.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
'Imagination' needed around how people gather
Meanwhile, the President of the Irish Medical Organisation has said that more "innovation and imagination" is required on how people gather, while not each other at risk of contracting Covid-19.
Public Health Specialist Dr Ina Kelly said community immunity has not yet been achieved, and until then, "it's about caution", she said.
She also urged people to continue to keep close contacts low while socialising outdoors.
"Don't go to places to that you suspect are going to be really packed because it is too late when people all start going into tight spaces," she said.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said local lockdowns remain an option for Government, should there be a spike in Covid-19 infections.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said he was "absolutely shocked" at the scenes in Dublin at the weekend, which said were "like a major open air party".
A specialist in infectious diseases at the Royal College of Surgeons has said he was reassured by seeing people socialising sensibly outdoors in small groups this weekend.
Professor Sam McConkey told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that he observed very sensible behaviour in Dublin this weekend, where people were meeting in small groups on rugs, tables and chairs along the seafront in Dublin.
However he said the behaviour in Dublin city centre with large crowds is not good for Covid-19 control and we need to avoid crowds gathering going forward.
