Leo Varadkar has confirmed that non-restricted travel to several countries will be allowed from July 9.
The Taoiseach made the announcement as he confirmed Ireland can move into phase three of reopening society during the coronavirus crisis on Monday, June 29.
The Fine Gael leader was speaking at a press briefing at Dublin Castle following on from a meeting with Cabinet.
Mr Varadkar, who acknowledged that the press conference may be his last as Taoiseach, said the list of nations Irish people can travel to will be released at a later time.
He said: "I am pleased to confirm that following the expert advice of NPHET we will move to Phase 3 on Monday when almost all remaining businesses, amenities and workplaces can re-open.
"We have also decided to begin easing travel restrictions between Ireland and some other countries from July 9. Details of other modifications will be provided."
He added: “I think if we reopen air travel and air bridges between countries that have similar instances of the virus that we do, then the risks of that being imported into the country is no higher than if we move from one county to another, or from one city to another, or from one part of the country to another.
“That’s the concept behind air bridges, that you only allow air travel between countries where the virus is at a similar level.
“We are seeing what’s happening in other countries.
“Even countries that had much stricter travel restrictions than we had, China, New Zealand, there is not a country in the world that has successfully beaten this virus, and that’s the truth of it.
“So, what we’re going to have to do is suppress it and suppress it as much as possible.
“And get used to the new normal, get used to living with this virus and making sure that if there are any new outbreaks that we pick them up quickly and suppress them.”
The news means people won't have to self-isolate for two weeks when returning from these countries.
It comes as the chief medical officer has warned against holidaying as he revealed 7% of cases recorded in the past two weeks were linked to travel.
Dr Tony Holohan said the National Public Health Emergency Team has expressed a "clear view" that trips abroad may cause the virus to begin spreading in Ireland again.
He also noted that a number of countries in Europe have seen a rise in infections recently.
Speaking on Thursday evening, he said: "NPHET noted today that over a third of new cases in the past 14 days are under 35 years of age.
"It also noted a number of EU countries reported an increase in new cases.
“7% of cases notified in Ireland over the past fortnight have been associated with travel.
"NPHET expressed a clear view that overseas travel poses a risk to importation of the disease and to further transmission in Ireland.
“The ECDC has recently warned that the pandemic is not over. Ireland has made significant gains in suppressing COVID-19.
"Our task over the coming weeks and months is maintaining these gains.”
Dr Holohan was speaking as the death toll in the Republic rose to 1,727 following one further virus related death.
And a rise of 11 confirmed cases has brought the total number of infections here to 25,405.
