Ireland's re-opening roadmap is weeks behind much of Europe and the world as we had our peak in mid-April.
Many countries like Italy and Spain, who had much worse outbreaks, will open fully before Ireland, according to their planned roadmaps.
However, Dr Ronan Glynn said Ireland's peak was considerably later than a lot of countries and the opening phases are in line with WHO guielines.
Speaking on RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer said: "We follow the guidance of ECDC and WHO and they are both clear we should leave two and four weeks between lifting restrictions.
"The top of our curve happened much later than other countries, many peaked in March and we were well into April."
Dr Glynn said this "allows us to learn from other countries who are a few weeks ahead of us".
These restrictions are under constant review and could be pushed forward - but just as easily could be reversed.
He added: "NPHET meets on ongoing basis and clearly we keep all measures under review at all times with a view of potential release of measures and if anything has to be elevated in the opposite direction.
"It's important people get used to the new normal and ensure we don't get a second wave."
And this "new normal" could be with us for years to come until a vaccine or rapid test is developed.
Dr Glynn added: "Unfortunately we don't have a treatment, a vaccine, a rapid test, until those are brought out at a mass scale we will be living with this for a long time whether that be months or years.
"There's certainly cause for optimism. First phase one trials for vaccines commenced in March and seen as we didn't know the disease existed in December this really is unprecedented.
"Typical time for a vaccine is between 10 and 15 years, the quickest one ever was for ebola and that was between four and five years."
