As the country prepares itself for a further wave of Covid-19 infections plans are still being put in place to further reopen the country.
All eyes are on the return of indoor dining as the government continues to work to cobble together a plan to let pubs and restaurants allow customers for indoor service.
Next week it's expected that cabinet will sign off on the latest plans for the reopening plan however there are still a number of details yet to be confirmed.
Meanwhile there are still fears that the Delta variant could put a stop to Ireland's reopening plans and even pose further risk to the current restrictions which have been eased.
Here's what we know so far:
Indoor dining reopening date
So far an official date for the reopening of indoor dining has not been confirmed.
The plan had been to originally open indoor dining on July 5 however not it's looking like July 26 is being eyed up.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin confirmed that Ministers will meet on Wednesday after he has a meeting with Dr Tony Holohan and NPHET.
Fáilte Ireland and hospitality stakeholders will also meet again early next week to finalise the revised guidelines for indoor dining ahead of the expected reopening on July 26.
The Government has been examining introducing new rules which would only allow fully vaccinated people or people who have recovered from Covid-19 to dine and drink indoors.
The plan to reopen indoor dining will likely see the EU Digital Covid Certificate being used to gain entry to pubs and restaurants.
Those who are now fully vaccinated will be sent an EU Digital Covid Cert by email or by post if the HSE does not have their email address.
Mr Varadkar said that it ‘looks’ that an app reader will be used by hospitality staff to scan customer’s Digital Covid Certificate upon entry.
He said: "We're targeting Monday the 26th, really because it has to go through the Seanad, we need to allow the President time to consider the bill and what's in it, and we need to get some regulations and things like that in place.
“The date we are aiming for is Monday, July 26.”
Other rules in place
There will still be another raft of rules likely in place when pubs and restaurants do reopen/
However there is much hope that some of the rules in place last year will be scrapped.
The dreaded €9 meal is gone while there are hopes that a time limit in the pub will not be necessary.
Dr Tony Holohan said that the one hour and 45 minute limit for tables which are less than 2 metres apart indoors is not as "relevant" due to indoor dining being confined only to vaccinated people.
Table service is expected to be in place with seating at the bar not allowed.
But pints at the bar have not yet been ruled out ahead of indoor dining reopening.
It would be an unexpected bonus for small, rural pubs, where often older customers prize the intimate experience at the bar, as it was thought unlikely in recent days.
Live music will likely be off the cards for the time being as well.
Plans beyond for August and September
Any plans in place are likely to last beyond the summer as the HSE continues to vaccinate as many people as possible.
While there has been hope that there will be no need to reimpose restrictions health experts have warned it can't be ruled out.
Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reid said the country is in for a "bumpy journey" for the next few weeks due to the Delta variant.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn earlier reiterated concern that further restrictions could be introduced if Ireland's hospitalisation and death toll significantly increases.
Speaking last week he said: "If you'd asked me that question on any day since the start of the pandemic, the answer would have been yes and that remains the case," he said.
"But we are in a changed situation now. We do have a significant proportion of the population vaccinated. You've seen the response this week where it's not that more restrictions were imposed, we simply paused.
"It's difficult to see that people would tolerate new or further restrictions. That's why I'm saying that it's really, really important that people hear these messages and protect themselves and their families over the coming weeks by getting vaccinated as soon as it's offered to them."
Plans are still going ahead to allow for foreign travel within the EU.
From next week, Ireland will start implementing a system to allow those who have been vaccinated fully, or have recovered fully from Covid-19, travel to EU destinations without restrictions as long as they have been issued with a Digital Covid Certificate.
However the advice for unvaccinated people is still to avoid non-essential travel abroad.
