Ireland became one of first European countries to reimpose tough COVID-19 constraints on October 21 when the government shut all non-essential retail and limited pubs and restaurants to takeaway under its highest level of curbs.

Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday retailers currently constrained to click-and-collect services would be first to re-open when the restrictions are lifted on December 1.

Varadkar also said he hoped bans around travel between counties would be lifted for something close to two weeks around the Christmas holidays.

Senior ministers met late on Thursday to finalise the proposals to be put to the rest of cabinet ahead of an announcement by Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Friday.

A government spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment.

Ireland's 14-day incidence of cases has fallen sharply to 103.9 per 100,000 people from over 300 last month - the third lowest of 31 countries monitored by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

However the decline has stalled in the past two weeks and the reproduction rate of the disease has not quite fallen to the mark officials targeted to keep cases at a low level for a sustained period as the curbs are lifted.

Australian Associated Press