Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said that government will wait three weeks to see the impact of current restrictions on the surge in Covid cases before making a decision on further measures.
Government moved to close the hospitality industry at midnight and extended the use of vaccine passes in hopes of slowing down transmission.
Speaking on his way to Cabinet on Tuesday morning, Minister Ryan said: "I think a lot of people have reacted to the decisions last week, a lot of people have cancelled events, have held back, and I think that was the signal to the country that a lot of people have taken up. We are reducing our socialisation, reducing our contacts.
"I think we said at the time – and I think it's good medical science – wait three weeks to see what exactly is the consequence of that."
Mr Ryan said the new measures introduced last week that saw bars, nightclubs and restaurants being told to close at midnight and people being asked to work from home where possible were a 'significant change'.
He told RTE: "It is quite a significant change that occurred last week, around the country, everyone knows it.
"Right across the board, people are rightly restricting their movements so I'd prefer to wait and see the consequences of that and then we'll make further decisions."
Mr Ryan also spoke about the government's delay in making a final decision on subsidising antigen tests.
He said the government was taking its time making the decision as it wanted to 'get it right'. The plans drawn up by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly were discussed at Cabinet Tuesday morning.
The original plan was to see a €4 subsidy on the test to allow for a consumer retail price of €2-3 euros.
A decision on the plan is expected to be made in the coming days.
The news comes after the HSE's chief operations officer Anne O'Connor warned that the current surge in Covid-19 cases would mean waiting lists getting longer.
She said procedures are not being scheduled, but not all non-Covid procedures have been cancelled.
Speaking to RTE's News at One, Ms O'Connor said 638 Covid patients are currently being treated in hospital, with 130 in ICU, 78 of whom are being invasively ventilated.
She said this was putting huge pressure on the system leading to the deferral of procedures.
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