The final Cabinet meeting of the year takes place on Tuesday as the government gathers to discuss supports for businesses closed as a result of the new Covid restrictions.
Senior government officials, as well as top public health doctors, have been speaking in recent days about the threat posed by Omicron and plans for the new year.
The variant is now dominant in Ireland, with Tanaiste Leo Varadkar warning that a record number of cases will be seen in the coming days.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Varadkar made a number of stark comments about the situation with Omicron and whether further restrictions will be imposed.
He said that while the government has no plans to implement additional restrictions before or after New Year's, more measures cannot be ruled out entirely.
"I think it's always going to be a combination of government actions and also actions we take as individuals and families," he said when asked on RTE's Morning Ireland about a back-up plan.
"The most important thing I think anyone can do is get their vaccine booster, a third dose. We will probably hit two million by the new year, once again showing that the Irish people are willing to get vaccinated.
"The government, through the HSE, has a world-beating vaccine programme so that's probably the most significant thing we can do because the vaccines do protect you from severe illness and death when it comes to Omicron, and Delta which hasn't gone away.
"It's not possible to stop it, it's here already, it's dominant, and we will see record case numbers in the coming days."
Speaking to reporters later, he reiterated that there is no "secret plan" to introduce more Covid-19 restrictions before the new year.
Mr Varadkar said he was "confident" that new measures that came into effect on Monday, including an 8pm closure of hospitality, would be enough to combat the coming Omicron wave.
But he said nothing could be ruled out, particularly if the situation in hospitals deteriorates.
The Taoiseach added on Tuesday that Omicron cannot be allowed to "let rip" and there is a "challenging" January ahead.
The Taoiseach said that if it were not for the successful rollout of vaccines, Ireland would currently be in lockdown if case numbers were at the heights seen this time last year.
He is confident "we can get through this" current wave, despite the dominance of the more transmissible strain of the disease this Christmas.
"I think we're looking at a very challenging January, one has to look at this in perspective, I think, compared to last year," he told Newstalk Breakfast.
"If you had the same number of cases right now we would be in total lockdown.
"I think the vaccines have been of enormous help in stopping hospitalisations and admissions to ICU and severe illness, there's no questioning about that and the evidence is very clear.
"The fact that we have a very robust booster campaign with a lot of momentum will give us significant protection so I think we can get through this.
"There are many twists and turns with this, no guarantees, one can never be certain, but I think the combination of the booster campaign, with the modification of our behaviours, with the restrictions that have been introduced, I would like t think we would be in a better position than last year in the context of a new variant arriving on the scene."
