Leo Varadkar has hailed a “day of freedom” as businesses across the country reopen and Ireland takes another step out of lockdown.

This week around 12,000 businesses will reopen their doors after months of pandemic restrictions, with up to 100,000 going back to work.

Mr Varadkar said the Government will continue to support businesses where necessary, but that financial supports will be “phased out over time”.

He said: “I think today is a day of freedom. People can travel freely anywhere on the island, we can meet our friends and family outdoors, indoors if you’re vaccinated.

“Religious services are back, which is very important to people of faith.”

He added: “What I really want to say is thank you. Thank you to the Irish people for getting us this far.

“Thank you to the HSE for running such a good vaccination programme. And also thank you to Irish business because they’ve had to make enormous sacrifices over the past few months.”

Mr Varadkar told RTE’s Morning Ireland: “I just want everyone who is in business to know that the Government is going to be there, to continue to support you financially.

“To give you a chance to bounce back after a really difficult year of trading.”

He said existing financial supports will remain exactly as they are “at least until the end of June”.

At the end of May the Government will give clarity over the next steps for the financial supports systems, he said.

The Tanaiste again insisted there will be “no cliff edge” to the supports.

He added: But this can’t go on forever. This is borrowed money so it will have to be phased out over time.

“We will make a distinction obviously, between firms and sectors that are still closed or suffering the most, as opposed to those that will be able to bounce back quite quickly once they’re up and running.

“But things like the wage subsidy scheme, probably the most important individual action for business, we’d anticipate that staying in place for some time.”

Ireland is taking some further steps back towards normality as a series of lockdown restrictions lifted on Monday.

A phased reopening of non-essential retail will begin, with click-and-collect services and in-store shopping by appointment allowed, while close contact services, such as hairdressers, can resume.

Restrictions on inter-county travel have also lifted while some of the limitations on indoor and outdoor social gatherings have eased.

Many museums, galleries and libraries are now able to reopen and the number of people allowed to attend religious services, including weddings and funerals, has increased to 50.

Indoor wedding receptions will be capped at six people and 15 for outdoor celebrations.

Three households, or up to six people from individual households, can now meet outdoors, including in private gardens.

Vaccinated households can also meet with an unvaccinated household indoors – without masks or social distancing – provided they are not at risk of severe illness and there are no more than three households present.

This measure will enable grandparents to meet and hug other family members indoors.

Three vaccinated households are also allowed to meet indoors without masks or social distancing.

Team sports training for adults in pods of 15 is also now permitted.

The capacity allowed on public transport has also increased to 50%.

Next Monday retail will reopen fully, with a variety of other restrictions due to lift in June.

On Sunday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin expressed hope that Ireland could look forward to a good summer.

Mr Martin was commenting after he received an AstraZeneca vaccine in Cork.

“I think we’re making great progress as a country,” he said.

“I think people have done extremely well in responding to the various guidelines over the last number of months and the results are that we are emerging from this pandemic.

“We’re set to have a good summer if we can keep this progress going and the vaccination is certainly helping in bring down severe illness and bringing down death and hospitalisation, so keep with it and we’re making progress.”

Ireland’s vaccination programme continues to gather pace and on Friday the country achieved a record for the number of jabs administered in one day, 52,000.