Tanaiste Leo Varadkar believes the pandemic will be over in 2021 and Ireland could be back to near normality by the summer.
The Fine Gael leader thinks with vaccines, rapid testing and all the knowledge experts now have, that next year will be significantly better.
But the vaccine will have to be in place for two months before it makes a difference.
The Tanaiste told Newstalk Breakfast: "I can only give you an educated guess. With the vaccine, with the mass testing and with the better knowledge of how to treat and prevent this virus, I think the pandemic will end in 2021.
"We'd really have to be giving the vaccine for about two months before you see it really make a difference. It's a two dose vaccine.
"And it's when we vaccinate the high risk population and nursing homes, healthcare workers and others, it's after they've had the second dose, that you'd expect to see a significant change in case numbers and the fatality rate.
"I think we're talking probably something more like the end of March, early April...around Easter.
"And that doesn't mean that things are back to normal by then but more in the Level 2, Level 1 space then.
"If things work out with the summer, the possibility of a return to things like football matches and maybe even concerts and festivals and gatherings too.
"The first quarter of the year, still difficult.
"The second quarter of the year, life starting to look a little bit more normal again."
The Tanaiste added that he "hopes" foreign holidays will be back on the cards by next summer.
