He said the current situation much more closely resembles the first wave of the disease rather than the second wave.
Leo Varadkar has said that further safety restrictions should not be ruled out, as Covid case numbers continue to rise.
Varadkar said that the current restrictions must be "given time to work", but that the situation is "alarming" as hospitalisations and ICU admissions continue to rise dramatically.
He also said that there is a strong case to say that the current restrictions should be left in place until those most at risk have been vaccinated, even if that means they last until February.
Speaking to
RTÉ on Sunday morning, An Tánaiste defended the Government's decision to go against NPHET's advice by reopening hospitality in December, saying that nobody can answer definitively whether that was "the wrong call".
He also said that the Government's "firm intention" remains to reopen schools and childcare fully on 11 January, but that the situation will be reviewed closer to the date.
This comes on the same day that
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan announced that the legal exercise limit could be reduced from 5km to 2km if Covid case numbers in Ireland do not decrease.
