Minister Simon Harris has called for the easing of restrictions as he claimed the 5km travel limit is driving people "absolutely bonkers".
The Minister for Higher Education also said he would like the government to "spell out" what May, June, July will look like following the ramping up of the vaccine programme.
His words come as the Taoiseach is set to announce the details of what restrictions will be eased following a Cabinet meeting next Tuesday.
The Fine Gael politician said that he expects a slight easing of some restrictions in April.
He said: "I don’t want to overly speculate but that 5km is driving people absolutely bonkers at this stage.
“The 5km in an urban community is very different – you might not get to the end of a field in a rural community. I think we need to look at how we can help people live with low-risk activities and doing things outdoors we know is safer than doing things indoors.”
He added that the Government needs to announce a clear roadmap for opening over the coming months.
He told Newstalk Breakfast this morning: "Let’s be honest, we are not going to be in a position to do a huge amount more in April, we have to truthful on that.
“But I would like to see us begin to spell out what the months of May, June and July might look like as we begin to see the vaccine programme really ramp up.”
Share your views on the AstraZeneca vaccine here or below:
He said that he was "concerned but optimistic" about the latest figures as 683 new infections and 18 deaths were reported last night.
But he added that he believes the country is "heading into a summer where we can see hope and we can see reopening”.
"People can now go and see their loved ones in nursing homes again. We have seen the number of cases in nursing homes thank god, completely collapse."
Mr Harris said that the Government will have to start talking about what coming out of lockdown will look like.
He added: "We can’t just keep telling people what they can’t do.”
