Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said that Government's roadmap for easing remaining Covid-19 restrictions will cover "quite a number of months".
He said that some rules "will definitely go to Christmas and maybe into spring" as the Government prepares for a winter of the health service battling the Delta variant.
Next week will see a number of discussions and meetings between NPHET and the Covid-19 Cabinet sub-committee where the winter roadmap for easing restrictions will be decided.
Cabinet are expected to sign off on the winter roadmap on August 31st and the Taoiseach will likely deliver another State of the Nation address to the public.
The Republic reported a further 1,818 cases of the virus on Thursday, with 242 Covid-19 patients in hospital and 52 in ICU.
Commenting on the case numbers, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “We are experiencing a rapid rise in the incidence of the disease across the country, with 12,348 cases reported in the last 7 days.
"This means that the virus is now circulating widely in our communities.
“While the vaccine programme continues, we need to allow time for the levels of immunity in the community to increase. The Delta variant spreads through close contact with others."
Get the latest breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our free newsletter
