Leo Varadkar believes people will continue wearing masks after the law that we have to wear them is dropped in the next 10 days.
Mr Varadkar said this is the norm in Asian countries and that “it may become the culture here” too.
The Tánaiste was speaking after the latest letter from NPHET on Thursday night to Government recommended dropping the face mask rule for schools, public transport and workplaces.
The only place it will be required that you still mask-up will be in healthcare settings.
It is understood that the NPHET letter may have been its last and that the advisory body will shortly be wound-up - Mr Varadkar said he believes NPHET will “fade away.”
The Tánaiste was speaking at the launch of a Mid-West regional enterprise plan in Tipperary.
He said the latest news from NPHET puts the country “in a very different place” to where we were at other stages of Covid.
Mr Varadkar said: “First of all, it’s important to say that the pandemic isn’t over.
“The positivity rate is still very high and I’m hearing of people I know every single day still testing positive with Covid, so we need to recognise that the pandemic isn’t over.
“However, we’re in a very different place now, we’ve built up a very high level of population immunity because of the vaccines and because of the numbers of people that have contracted the virus at this stage and also the Omicron variant is much milder, and that allows us to deal with the pandemic in a very different way, much more in the way that we would have dealt with a flu pandemic for example.
“What that means is that we’ll be able to relax rules around testing and also around masks.
“I saw the NPHET letter last night which recommends ending the mask mandate and also recommends some very significant changes in testing.
“I spoke to the Taoiseach about it yesterday and we’ll make a decision on the NPHET advice no later than Tuesday and we’ll be able to give a date then for its implementation.”
The Tánaiste said masks would continue to be a feature of Irish life.
“The advice from NPHET is that the mandatory requirement to wear masks can end, but it should still be advised in public healthcare settings and on public transport.
“But it being mandatory, it being the law will end.
“I think it’s advice a lot of people will welcome, particularly in relation to schools, but that doesn’t mean that people who want to wear a mask can’t.
“I know a lot of people who maybe are experiencing mild symptoms into the future, they’ll probably still want to wear a mask to protect others.
“That’s the culture in asian countries and I think it may become the culture here.
“People may decide for themselves in crowded settings for themselves, like on a bus or on a train, but it won’t be the law.
“We’re moving very much towards a different phase.”
Mr Varadkar added: “I should say that NPHET isn’t been stood down just yet, I think in the round that NPHET has provided us with very good advice and very good guidance over the past two years.
“We didn’t always agree on everything, but most of the time we agreed on the vast majority of things and I want to extend my thanks and appreciation to the members of NPHET and the CMO (Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan) in particular in the years gone by.
“It’s not being stood down just yet.
“It will fade away.”
