Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the lifting of lockdown restrictions could take months.
The Fine Gael leader said he does not know if we will be able to relax restrictions after May 5, but even if we did it would be a gradual process that would take place over a period of time.
He was speaking at a Dail session in Dublin on Thursday afternoon.
Ireland began a full lockdown and banned all non-essential travel on March 27.
An extension to the restrictions was announced on April 10, which will remain in place until at least May 5.
However it is not yet known whether the full lockdown will be eased after this date, or to what extent restrictions will be lifted.
And speaking to TDs this afternoon, the Taoiseach said the Oireachtas must now consider how to get things back to normal "bit by bit”.
He said we can look at other countries “a few weeks ahead of us” for guidance.
But he also suggested that the experience in Asian countries has shown that even if a lockdown is lifted, we may have to return to full quarantine at a later stage if cases and deaths rise too fast.
Mr Varadkar added that the process of easing restrictions here will be gradual, and will ultimately take months.
He said: "In the times ahead there are three questions we need to consider as an Oireachtas.
"The first: when we can begin to lift the current restrictions and start getting things back to normal bit by bit.
"The second is what we need to do to get people back to work and revive and rebuild our economy.
"The third is how we can take what we have learnt in recent weeks and some of the things we have done to build a better society in the aftermath of Covid-19, and how we can honour the sacrifices made in every community.
"The answer to the first question is being developed as we speak, based on expert opinion. We have the advantage of being able to look at other countries that are a few weeks ahead of us and seeing how their strategies are working or not.
"I don't know yet if we will be able to relax restrictions on May 5. I know that if we can at all, it's going to be gradual and will happen over a number of months."
It comes after a further 38 deaths and 1,068 more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland.
The Department of Health revealed last night that 657 new cases were confirmed in Irish labs and 411 older Irish Covid-19 cases confirmed in a laboratory in Germany, as of 1pm on Wednesday, April 15.
There have now been 444 deaths due to coronavirus in Ireland to date.
The total number of cases in the Republic is now 12,547.
