Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. I mean in the sense of keeping it suppressed.

The comment many of us have made about living with the virus has been misinterpreted. The best prediction we can make at the moment is set out in the national plan. It was called a "living document" when it was launched and has become a living document because it has found itself amenable to some acceleration as our progress in suppressing the disease has gone well. Again, I am not being cagey; I am simply facing the fact that predictions under such levels of uncertainty are dangerous. All I can say is that we have made very positive progress. We are looking at a progressive and careful lifting of the very strict interventions while watching very carefully for any resurgence or reintroduction of the disease. If I can be blunt about it, we are growing in confidence and knowing more as time goes by. We are 100 days into this and in another 30 days we will know at least 30% more and will probably know twice as much about how to handle this. It is incumbent upon me to be very careful not to pretend to know more than I know.