Taoiseach Micheal Martin will this week make a further announcement on the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland.
The country has already seen the easing of a number of Covid restrictions including the return of non-essential retail, personal services such as barbers and hairdressers as well as the lifting of the inter-county travel ban.
Meanwhile next week will see the beginning of the reopening of the hospitality sector with pubs and restaurants to be permitted to resume outdoor dining from June 7.
However there are still a number of outstanding questions still to be answered in the coming months.
On Friday afternoon Taoiseach Micheal Martin will address the nation with everything we can expect for the next two months.
Here's what we can expect from his announcement:
Indoor dining
There is currently no set date for the return of indoor dining and drinking for pubs and restaurants.
Failte Ireland this week published a list of guidelines for both indoor and outdoor dining on Wednesday which caused much anger among publicans.
The new rules include a ban on live music, a 105-minute limit and an 11.30pm curfew.
Under the measures it will be a maximum six people aged 13 or over per table - but this limit of six does not include accompanying children aged 12 or younger.
The total combined capacity at a table cannot exceed 15 overall (max. six persons aged 13 and over) for both indoor and outdoor dining.
But if a premises chooses to have two metres social distance, they don’t have to have a 105-minute limit indoors.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has promised however that the guidelines will not be "the last word" giving hope that the Taoiseach could perhaps announce some slightly different rules and perhaps give an earlier Jluy opening date than hoped.
Revised vaccine plan
Ireland's vaccine rollout was dealt another blow today when it was revealed that there will be a major shortfall of vaccine deliveries this month.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that Ireland was unlikely to hit the June vaccine target to have 80% of adults with a single jab and 55% fully vaccinated adults.
It’s likely that 400,000 fewer vaccines will arrive into the country next month.
But this is the “best case scenario” and the delivery could be as little as 60,000, when we were initially due 470,000 doses of the single shot vaccine.
It is likely now that due to the shortfall Mr Martin will confirm a revised planned as a result.
However Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has remained hopeful that the delay would mean that Ireland may miss its targets by just a few weeks paving the way for a further return to normality.
International travel
A return to international travel is another item on the agenda ahead of the Taoiseach's announcement on Friday.
On Monday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said that he hopes Ireland "will be able to benefit from removing restrictions on international travel" at some point in July.
And Eamon Ryan, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, has also said that the skies should be reopened for fully vaccinated people.
The EU Digital Green Cert is expected to play an important role, but Minister Ryan admitted this may not be fully operational until mid-August.
He told the Dail on Tuesday: “Already the principle is established in the Mandatory Hotel Quarantine (MHQ) regulations that vaccinated people should not be subject to MHQ.
“As the vaccine programme is rolled out, and large portions of the population are fully vaccinated, I would like to see this principle applied more broadly in the context of the opening of international travel, i.e., that fully-vaccinated people that do not present a public health risk of the spread of Covid-19 should not be subjected to pre-arrival testing or quarantine requirements.
“Given that the Digital Green Certificate might not be in widespread use until at least mid-August, it would seem to not be reasonable for people to wait for the Digital Green Certificate before allowing freedom from current pre-arrival PCR and quarantine requirements.
Update on Covid supports
Hopes have been raised by Leo Varadkar that Covid wage supports could continue until October.
The Fine Gael leader was speaking candidly at a private Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meeting when he revealed that payments could extend into the fourth quarter of this year.
This would indicate that payments like the PUP (Pandemic Unemployment Payment) and CRSS (Covid Recovery Supports Scheme) will last past September.
Mr Varadkar reiterated again that there would be “no cliff edge” at the end of June when payments are currently scheduled to finish.
One TD told the Irish Mirror that he said: “we will help people in business, and we’ll give them a chance by phasing that out at the end of Quarter Three.”
Sources at the meeting said that what Mr Varadkar meant by this is that supports will continue until the end of September.
However, no decisions have been made at Cabinet yet and it will be discussed at subcommittees dealing with Covid business supports.
Mr Varadkar also said that following next Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, on June 1, it’s likely an announcement will be made on the future of financial supports such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).
Outdoor events and mass gatherings
The Taoiseach is likely set to give out a road map
Leo Varadkar has indicated up to 200 people could get back supporting their local GAA clubs at county grounds during the summer.
The Tanáiste said he was “keen” to get back to watching a match from the stands and he is “increasingly confident that that’s going to be possible over the summer.”
And earlier Arts Minister Catherine Martin revealed crowds of up to 5,000 people could be back at gigs from as early as next month.
There will be comedy gigs, classical music recitals, outdoor concerts and theatre.
There will also be a wide variety of test events, with capacity ranging depending on the venue.
