Any reopening of society next month will be cautious and conservative, according to the Taoiseach

Micheál Martin says schools and construction remain the main priority ahead of any easing of restrictions.

As it stands the current Level 5 restrictions are due to last until March the 5th.

The Taoiseach says the current covid cases are still too high and need to be reduced further before society can reopen, "Numbers are coming down, we do really need to get them down to lower levels, and to keep them low to relieve pressure on frontline health care workers, they've been fantastic, and we've done extraordinary work at the coalface of it so long. During this pandemic we do really need to relieve the pressure on them. The best way to do that is to reduce case numbers, reduce hospitalizations, and reduced numbers of people going into intensive care."