The speed of Ireland's vaccination rollout and the success of test events has seen renewed hope for a further reopening of the country over the coming weeks.
Dr Tony Holohan hinted at such at the NPHET briefing yesterday and that has now been backed up by a number of Government officials.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said there will be no freedom day in Ireland but that Covid-19 will "peter out" in the coming months.
And speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan echoed this positivity and said that our effective vaccination rollout gives the Government and NPHET options.
He said: "We have to recognise that the vaccination targets we have been meeting are phenomenal.
“We have pulled ahead now. We have passed out the US and are about to pass out the UK in terms of level of vaccination, and that gives us strength and the ability to do further reopenings," he explained.
"What's next? It has to be the return to work and to college. We are already back in school, but we need real life to return.”
Although offices would not automatically reopen for entire companies, a system would be put in place "on a hybrid basis" for a "gradual and safe" reopening.
Meanwhile, in another boost for Irish society, Ryan said the government is also considering the use of the Digital Covid Cert for the return of live music and entertainment events, possibly in the autumn "in a staged, step-by-step basis".
The Cabinet sub-committee will meet on August 6 and then again later on in July, when they will begin to plan for a further easing of measures.
Despite this welcomed optimistic outlook for the rest of 2021, Mr Ryan warned that over the next few weeks people "need to be very careful with cases rising each day, so it is not a signal that it is all over, it's not".
