The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport has said he believes restrictions will start to lift towards the end of next week.
Eamon Ryan said he did not believe the Government will decide to immediately remove some restrictions today and it is more likely that people will be given advance notice about any changes on Friday.
The Green Party leader cautioned that nothing is a certainty with Covid-19 because it can keep changing. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said the position the country is in at the moment is a lot better than it looked a number of weeks ago, with ICU numbers holding steady and health consequences less severe for the majority of people than in previous variants.
Mr Ryan said that he would like some of the social life to return to society because it is important for health and welfare.