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The Cabinet will today consider extending the 5km Covid-19 travel restriction to a county-wide limit from mid-April.
Two fully vaccinated people can meet indoors from April 12th, under plans being considered by Cabinet today. Personal services such as hairdressers also look set to reopen in May . Sources have said the month of May will focus on the phased reopening of retail, the remainder of construction and personal services.
The sub-committee of senior Ministers decided last night to delay the easing of the restriction on foot of what was described as a “grim” briefing from the National Public Health Emergency Committee (Nphet) on the current situation.
The return of click-and-collect services in retail will not now happen until May, the Cabinet is expected to decide today. Some Ministers have pressed for an earlier return especially for small clothing and footwear retailers. Sources said there was a concern that it would get people moving more than they need to and also a nervousness about departing too much from Nphet advice. For those reasons the decision has been deferred until May.
Main points – What the Cabinet is set to discuss/decide today:

Extend the 5km travel restriction to a county-wide limit from April 12th
Ease restrictions on outdoor activities on a gradual and phased basis
A partial return to construction from mid-April
Resumption of some sporting activities including tennis, golf and under 18 training from April 26th
The return of click and collect retail services and hairdressers in May
Reopening of zoos and heritage sites from April 26th
Two vaccinated people can meet indoors from April 12th
Expand the list of countries subject to hotel quarantine
Nphet warning not enough people have yet been vaccinated

Senior Ministers in the group, chaired by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, agreed the change to travel restrictions should take place on April 12th rather than April 5th, when the current Level 5 restrictions were set to end.
A Government source said this rationale behind the delayed easing was to “keep [case] numbers down over Easter school holidays”.
Under plans to be discussed at Cabinet today, housing construction to come back from 12th April as part of phased approach. It will begin with 14,400 homebuilding workers and new childcare facilities .
Outdoor non-contact training and activities for under 18s are also expected to resume from April 26th. Non-contact sports such as tennis and golf are also expected to be allowed from April 26th. Also under examination is the return of elite athletics and GAA from April 19th.
Heritage sites, zoos and some other attractions are expected to open from April 26th under plans to be considered by the Government on Tuesday.
The Cabinet coronavirus committee met for more than four hours last night and heard while Covid-19 cases are stable at the current level of restrictions, altering public health measures could change this.
A Government source said there was a view emerging that there is nowhere near enough people vaccinated in Ireland to take risks.
Ministers were told that if the State lost control of the disease now there could be a substantial wave of infections until the middle of the summer, whereas a cautious approach for the next four to eight weeks could cut the risk by between 50 and 70 per cent.
Deferred
Minister for Transport and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan confirmed as he left the Cabinet sub-committee meeting on Monday night that the easing of restrictions during April will now be gradual and staged rather that happen at once. The start date of the changes has also been deferred for a week for most changes to avoid any spike in figures during the last week of Easter holidays.
“It’s critical that we get the next few weeks right” .
“First things first. We have got to get April right. We need to get the extra million vaccines in April. That will give us real protection. A further million vaccines in May, and we are a large way there. It’s not far away. We have to be careful not to jump ahead and get the next few weeks right first.” he told reporters.
The general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), Antoinette Cunningham, warned, however, that any easing of the 5km travel restriction would make policing the pandemic even more challenging.
The Government will also on Tuesday consider allowing two households to meet outdoors in a place that is not a private garden, and allowing non-contact sports training in pods for children. Ministers will also discuss potentially allowing people to play golf or tennis, although no decisions have yet been made.
Ministers were told by the HSE that it would struggle to cope with another wave of disease if it hit
.
Mandatory quarantine
It is expected that the list of countries from which travellers are subject to mandatory quarantine on arrival here is to be expanded, as the pandemic grows in several states, including many in Europe. Sources indicated that officials are likely to push for an expansion of the list, but that this may not be imminent.
Any expansion of the 33 countries currently on the list would require more capacity in hotel accommodation used by the State for quarantining, especially if the expansion included countries with high levels of travel into the Republic.
Hospital pressure
Intensive care consultant Dr Catherine Motherway warned that any easing of restrictions will have to be gradual to avoid pressure on hospital services.
Dr Motherway told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show that she “devoutly” hoped that as the vaccine rolled out there would be a reduction in the numbers in intensive care. “The thing that is keeping numbers low is public behaviour.”
When compared with January the current figures were much better “we’ve all done a very good job.”
It was important that everyone “hold on” for the moment to protect the vulnerable and to prevent people ending up in ICU with “severe Covid,” she said.
Dr Motherway pointed out that half of the people in ICU at present were under the age of 60, but they were people with underlying conditions and they were in the high risk cohort. Most people in this cohort were cocooning and as the vaccine roll out progressed it was important that the public adhere to public health measures to protect the vulnerable. “We all need to be careful up to the summer.”
Dr Motherway pointed out that UK data on the impact of the vaccine would indicate that it could be another “six to seven weeks” before the roll out had a “significant impact”. This was her “guesstimate” she emphasised.
“All of us are fed up,” she said. As restrictions lifted and people could meet out of doors, Dr Motherway urged people to be careful and keep their distance especially when meeting those who could be vulnerable. “We have to do that for a bit longer.”