Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said there will be no freedom day in Ireland but that Covid-19 will "peter out" in the coming months.
Dr Tony Holohan raised hopes of an early return to normal on Wednesday when he said their were “reasons for optimism” as it appears public health experts will advise Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in the coming days on long term plans to reopen society and the economy.
And speaking on Thursday morning, the Taoiseach said that Ireland is now in a strong position although he was not drawn on any date for a return to normal.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Martin said: "All this talk about freedom day, if you look at the last pandemic 100 years ago, it didn't end one day like. It will peter out or we will adapt with it, I think we're in a new phase of it.
"I think some people will say we have to see what happens in the depths of winter, in terms of new variants and new viruses but I think beyond this winter we are certainly in a much stronger position.
"We're certainly in a much stronger position now going into the autumn.
"Doing it the way we are doing it is better for the economy, better for society and better for every sector because you can derail it all, if you come of the rails with this, every sector will struggle. It makes absolute sense what we are doing."
He added: "We've reopened indoor dining, we've done travel, I think the indoor sporting is something we have to prepare for, live entertainment too - let's do it in a sustained way. What we open we want to retain."
When asked about much criticised maternity restrictions, Mr Martin said: "Considering where we are with vaccination levels, there shouldn't be those restrictions on partners in Maternity hospitals across the country"
