STORMONT justice minister Naomi Long has proposed adopting the 'bubble model' in easing the coronavirus lockdown.
The Alliance Party leader said ministers are trying to make the restrictions "more tolerable" and has asked for the idea to be examined "as a priority issue".
The bubble approach would allow one household, or 'bubble', to socialise with other individual bubbles.
Mrs Long said that "we need to be realistic when we're making this advice and we're telling people what to do".
"I personally think the model they're using in New Zealand is a model that we should really look at urgently, and that's the bubble model," she told the BBC's Nolan Show.
Explaining the idea, she continued: "You're in a bubble now in your own household, and you can pick a couple other bubbles that you can connect with, and nobody goes outside of those, but within those bubbles you can treat yourselves essentially like one large household.
"But the consequence of that to be clear is that if anybody in your bubble shows symptoms or is exposed you all self-isolate."
Mrs Long added: "We're trying to make this more tolerable and more bearable as best we can, but at the same time we're doing it with a precautionary principle because what we don't want to do is end up pushing the replication rate of this disease in our community back up above one."
The restrictions have currently been eased to allow groups of up to six people from different households to meet outdoors while maintaining social distancing, but indoor meetings are still not permitted.
From Monday, vulnerable people who are shielding will also be allowed to go outside with people from their own household, or one person from another household if social distancing is observed.
