The Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022, which came into force earlier this month, allows ministers to stay in their roles even when the offices of first minister and deputy first minister are vacant, as has been the case since Paul Givan’s resignation last week.

However, Attorney General Brenda King has reportedly warned health minister Robin Swann that he cannot lift all Covid-19 restrictions himself, as “significant” decisions still require approval by the whole Executive under the ministerial code.

Mr Swann may be able to relax some restrictions if other ministers agree that the changes are not significant or controversial, and do not cut across the responsibility of another department, BBC News reports.

In a letter to his ministerial colleagues, Mr Swann said: “This is a situation not of my making and it is matter of deep regret that we do not have collective executive leadership to take our society forward to a new phase in the pandemic response.”

He has asked ministers to consider their position on changes to the restrictions and respond to him by Monday afternoon.