TAOISEACH Micheál Martin says that Covid-19 restrictions could be completely lifted in Ireland as early as late Spring.
Ahead of Tuesday's Cabinet meeting on the country's vaccination roll-out plan, Martin said that May or June is the "optimal period" for Ireland to be "completely open".
He did however warn that a temporary increase in restrictive measures will likely be necessary in January to counteract what is sure to be a rise in Covid-19 cases over the Christmas period.
Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland on Monday, Martin said: "In January and February we will have a limited volume of the vaccine and they will go to the priority areas.
"We will have enough for the priority areas and the bigger volumes will start coming in March, April and May as other vaccines come on stream and the manufacturing of vaccines ramps up across the world.
"There is a timeframe to this and people need to be aware of this, this is not just in Ireland, this is everywhere," he added.
"I think your optimal period is moving towards the May, June period and then we will be completely open after that.
"So, there is a staged timeline approach depending on the availability of the vaccine as they come into the country."
Martin went on to stress that further restriction in January were likely.
"You could very well be looking at some further restrictions in January," he said.
"We will look again at the data and we will look at where we are in January. We are keeping everything under review, we will take stock of where we are week to week."
See More: Covid-19, Ireland, Micheál Martin
