Eamon Ryan says he expects lifting of Covid restrictions next week

"The position we're in at the moment is much better than the one we were in a number of weeks ago."

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said that he expects the current set of Covid restrictions to be lifted next week. The Minister for Transport, Environment, Climate, and Communications spoke about the easing of restrictions on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1. When asked if he expected Cabinet to lift restrictions early this week, he replied that he would expect an announcement on Friday "to give people advanced notice". "It'll be next week to the end of next week, I expect that's when we'll start to see the restrictions starting to be lifted," Ryan said. "We have to be careful with Covid, it can keep changing, so nothing is certain, but certainly, the position we're in at the moment is much better than the one we were in a number of weeks ago. "The numbers in ICU have held steady, the virulence of the virus, the health consequences, while for some people still very significant, no one should underestimate, no one should downplay the severity for some people, but not in the same numbers as previous variants, and that looks like it's going to give us the chance to start lifting restrictions quickly, in my mind very widely, and then the final restrictions, subject to the virus not changing as it has done in that time." Ryan is hoping that the 8pm curfew on pubs and restaurants could be lifted as early as next week, and wants to bring back cultural and sporting events as quickly as possible. The Minister also encouraged that young people who have yet to come forward to receive their booster to do so "for their own health and for the wider health of the country". NPHET are set to meet on Thursday and present recommendations to Government, including a removal of the 8pm curfew and a return to full attendance for outdoor sporting events. Featured Image: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie