Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said he expects Covid-19 restrictions to be lifted next week, including the 8pm closing time for the hospitality sector.
However, it is not yet known if the industry will be allowed to return to normal trading hours.
NPHET are meeting on Thursday and are expected to give updated advice on restrictions to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
But Minister Ryan told RTE on Wednesday morning that it is more likely restrictions will be lifted at some stage next week rather than this weekend.
He said: "Towards the end of next week, I expect we will see the start of restrictions being lifted. The timeline the Tánaiste said yesterday makes sense.
"The position we're in at the moment is a lot better than the one we were in a number of weeks ago, the numbers in ICU have held steady, the health consequences are still significant for some but not to the same level as previous variants.
"I think Omicron is on a downward spike. That will give us the chance to start lifting restrictions quickly and very widely. We will give people a number of days of advance notice."
Minister Ryan said lifting the curfew on hospitality would be one of the first decisions made by Cabinet.
"I'm hoping to see the 8pm curfew coming to an end. I think we need to start bringing our social life back. That's important for our health and welfare. I think the likes of our sporting and cultural events, our artistic events - it makes sense to bring them back. In my mind, it's important that people who are working from home have the chance to get back into an office.
"Young people have missed out on that socialisation," he said.
Cabinet Ministers are likely to meet on Friday after they receive the fresh NPHET advice and an announcement could be made on Friday evening to give businesses notice.
Minister Ryan also said his expectation is there could be an end for the need to use Covid passes to access hospitality services by the end of March this year if there is no significant change in Covid-19.
It comes as Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night that his “wish” was to set March 31 as a deadline to end almost all legal restrictions.
He told TDs and Senators that “we cannot promise anything yet and there is still the option of extending for another three months until the end of June.”
Mr Varadkar also noted mask wearing may have to remain in crowded settings and people would continue to be asked to stay at home if they are symptomatic.
He also told the meeting that Covid passes may still be required for international travel.
The Tanaiste also said the country must be on alert for the possibility of another variant later in the year which means people may have to be prepared for another round of vaccinations.
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