The Taoiseach says most Level 5 restrictions are likely to continue until Easter.
Micheál Martin says Covid numbers are still too high for restrictions to ease.
They were due to end on the 5th of March.
The Taoiseach also told his party last night that almost 1 in 4 close contacts are testing positive for Covid-19 since testing resumed at the end of last month.
That compares to a positivity rate of 11% previously and demonstrates the impact of the UK variant.
A further 54 deaths and 1,006 new cases were confirmed yesterday.
Meanwhile, 990 patients are in public hospitals with the virus, the first time it has been below 1,000 in more than a month - while 167 are in ICU.
