Tánaiste Leo Varadkar hopes all Covid restrictions to be lifted by end of March, as 11,683 new cases reported

It comes as 11,683 new cases were reported – 5,767 confirmed by PCR tests and a further 5,916 people who registered a positive antigen result through the HSE portal.

There were 979 people with Covid in hospital today, with 93 in ICU.

Cases today are slightly up on 11,139 new cases yesterday, when there were 1,006 in hospital and 97 in ICU, but significantly down on an all time high of more than 26,000 on Saturday week.

Sources said that at the meeting Mr Varadkar pointed to the emergency legislation which puts in place Covid passes and said that it expires by the end of March, indicating that it would be a good target date for the removal of measures.

However, the EU Digital Covid Cert would be still needed for international travel in Europe.

Sources also said that his comments come with caveats and a “health warning”, however, they are in line with other remarks made publicly by Coalition colleagues.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and Minister of State Ossian Smyth, told radio stations earlier today that they would also hope to see the use of the Covid pass domestically removed by the end of March.

Mr Varadkar also said there will be future variants and restrictions may be brought in again in the winter when hospitals are under pressure.

He said Ireland is the only country in Europe where people cannot stand at the bar to mingle with others and that this is having an effect both on people and on businesses.

The Tánaiste also said that he wants a situation where the summer can be as normal as possible.

It is understood that Mr Varadkar said that March 31 should be the deadline to end all legal restrictions, but added that nothing can be promised and that there is still the option of extending it for a further three months.

He said masks may remain needed in certain circumstances, such as in crowded places, staying at home when symptomatic and for international travel.

Mr Varadkar also told TDs and Senators to be prepared for a further vaccine dose if necessary.

He also said that the country must be prepared for a "new severe variant of concern" later in 2022 and that this may mean another round of vaccination.

He also said that the Test and Trace system must be able to be switched on and off as and when needed and that improved air quality in buildings must be invested in and the Government must continue to increase ICU and hospital bed capacity.

Mr Varadkar also told the meeting that a "high level" of immunity has been built up due to vaccination and infection, which has meant that hospitalisations, ICU numbers and deaths have not increased like in previous waves.

Sources said that these factors give a "strong degree of confidence" that restrictions can be eased quickly over the coming weeks.

Mr Varadkar told the meeting it is the “right thing to do to reopen as quickly as we can” with a target of ending restrictions completely by the end of March.

There should be a such a dividend for being the most vaccinated country in Europe and having followed very strict rules for almost two years, he said.

“We've had very strict rules around all these things for two years now. In hospitality, we’re probably the only country in the world where it hasn't been possible to stand at a bar for two years — or to go to your office when you want,” he said.

“With the exceptions of about three weeks, it's been very hard to attend a concert or a gig or la nightclub, or a stadium.

“I want all that to change and to change as quickly as possible.”

Mr Varadkar told TDs and Senators: “We’ve had very strict rules around all these things for two years now. In hospitality, we’re probably the only country in the world where it hasn't been possible to stand at a bar for two years — or to go to your office when you want.

“With the exceptions of about three weeks, it's been very hard to attend a concert or a gig or la nightclub, or a stadium.

“I want all that to change and tto change as quickly as possible.”

It’s very likely that there'll be a Cabinet meeting done on Friday to consider Nphet recommendations, and Coalition party leaders would meet the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tomy Holohan, he said.

“The current situation is as optimists thought — which is that we have a very high level of cases, but Omicron is less severe than the previous variants.

“And because of the high level of immunity built up by the vaccination programme, that did not result in increased hospitalisations and ICU admissions, not to the extent that any previous wave did.”

Mr Varadkar said there was “a degree of confidence that we can remove restrictions quickly over the next couple of weeks. And that's definitely something that I want us to do.”

Ireland had by and large, got most things right when it comes to Covid, he said. “We didn't get everything right. But most things, whether that's the number of deaths per million of population, the number of people in hospital per million. or the number of people vaccinated,” he said.

“Ireland has performed very well. Only a few a few Nordic countries are performing better than us in all of Europe and in most of the world.

“But we have paid a very high price. We have had very severe restrictions for a very long time, and I think about a particularly negative impact on younger people and young adults.

“They haven’t had a normal youth and the type of Rites of Passage that are normal for young adults, for about two years now. They see their friends on Instagram having a much more normalised life in London, New York and Dubai.”

He referred also to the impact on those working in live music and the arts. “Those things aren't just their job or their business, they’re also their passion.”

“I think it'd be really good if we could set March 31 as our target for ending all legal restrictions.”