The National Public Health Emergency Team is to be disbanded soon, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has announced.
The news comes as Mr Martin confirmed that the law on the wearing of face masks will be scrapped on February 28.
The group, headed by Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan, was set up as part of Ireland's battle against Covid-19.
Dr Holohan said that NPHET should be stood down and replaced with a smaller group in a letter to the government.
Mr Martin said a smaller group will be needed for "a range of advices" to see if the healthcare service in Ireland will withstand more variants or future diseases that may emerge, Newstalk reports.
He said: "We know they impact fairly significantly on our health services and on our people so we will learn lessons from this phase of the pandemic and work to prepare ourselves to be more resilient into the future."
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly TD said NPHET's advice to remove mandatory mask-wearing "is a key indicator that we are moving forward in terms of our ability to live with COVID-19".
He added: "Our ability to ease restrictions is thanks to the response and support of people across the country and our successful vaccine programme.
"I welcome these recommendations and I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the NPHET for their expertise, commitment and guidance through what has been such a difficult period. Their contribution cannot be overstated."
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