Stephen Donnelly has hailed the results of Level Five restrictions imposed across the country in response to the pandemic, urging the public to "keep going" so Ireland can open up for Christmas.
The Health Minister said today that efforts made by the public in response to spiralling instances "are beginning to show through" as daily case numbers start to stabilise and fall.
Public health officials have offered messages of cautious optimism in recent days amid improvements when it comes to the key indicators of the scale of Covid-19 across Ireland.
And in an upbeat message, Mr Donnelly called on the public to "drive this thing back down again, so we can open back up for December."
"That's the plan," he said, in a video posted on Twitter this afternoon.
"The efforts that people have been making and continue to make every day are beginning to show through," said Mr Donnelly.
He pointed to falling daily case numbers, as well as a reduction in the numbers of close contacts reported by those who test positive, as evidence that Level Five "is working."
"What this shows is that people are working together, people are making sacrifices. And it’s not easy.
"It’s not easy on people who are isolated by this. It wasn’t easy on the kids not to be able to go trick or treating over the weekend.
"It’s not easy on businesses. It’s not easy on workers. It’s not easy on healthcare professionals and people working right across the country.
"But you know what? It is working.
"We’ve got another four weeks or so at Level Five. We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to drive this thing right back down again, so we can open back up again for December."
The Health Minister's comments come after Ireland reported 767 cases of Covid-19 yesterday, along with two further deaths from the disease.
In total, Ireland has reported 62,750 cases of coronavirus, with 1,917 deaths.
The country's seven-day incidence number fell by more than 30% last week, dropping from 7,194 two weeks ago to 4,940 between Monday and Sunday of last week.
