A return to live music, religious services and returning to the workplace will be discussed by the Cabinet at a special Covid meeting this Friday.
Indications are the Government is planning to go ahead with plans to further ease remaining Covid-19 restrictions over the coming months.
This comes despite concern regarding rising case numbers and hospitalisations in recent weeks.
Approximately 85% of the Irish adult population is now fully vaccinated.
A Cabinet source told The Irish Times there is a “strong case” to proceed with the planned easing of restrictions. It is expected the Government will publish the updated roadmap by August 31st.
However, the anticipated peak in cases associated with the Delta variant is causing concern among officials.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “We are concerned about the Delta variant and the increase in numbers. At a meeting last week, the CMO (chief medical officer) articulated that concern along with the Nphet representatives and the CEO of the HSE in terms of the impact on hospitalisations and ICUs.
“So we did anticipate this increase, we anticipate an increase over the next number of weeks. We have not reached the peak of the Delta wave yet, and of course any time the disease is increasing at this rate is a time for concern.”
Despite the concerns, the return of schools will proceed as planned, with some schools reopening from today.
