The Taoiseach has indicated the 8pm closing time for hospitality businesses and indoor events could soon be removed.
The curfew has been in place since mid-December, in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
While cases surged over Christmas, officials have said they're "cautiously hopeful" the peak of the wave has now passed.
Daily case numbers have also fallen somewhat over the last week, along with a reduction in the testing positivity rate.
As of this morning, there are 1,023 people with COVID-19 in Irish hospitals - up from 1,011 yesterday.
However, the number of patients with the virus in ICU has remained relatively steady since Christmas, and currently stands at 83 - down nine from yesterday.
Micheál Martin says the current restrictions will be examined next week, although stressed it's still too early to say for definite what will happen.
He said: "The restrictions are very severe on the sector - there's no point in saying anything else.
"We're making progress against Omicron, and there will be a meeting of NPHET next week.
"I would hope we'd be in a position to move further in terms of the current restrictions."
He said he still wants to hear from public health before saying anything definitive about the next steps.
Restaurants, pubs, theatres, cinemas and most other indoor venues currently have to close at 8pm.
50% capacity limits also remain in place for many indoor gatherings.
While those restrictions remain in place for now, the Government this week moved to ease the isolation requirements for asymptomatic close contacts.
The self-isolation period for confirmed cases has also been reduced, along with new measures aimed at reducing the burden on the PCR testing system.
