He said that Covid-19 is “not the flu” and the restrictions will be in place to protect people “not to discriminate”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed that Government will have a plan for reopening indoor dining by 19 July, however, he refused to give a date for the reopening.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Martin said that primary legislation will be required to make sure that there is “solid legal grounding” for the reopening of indoor hospitality which he added could be moved through the Dáil in a week.
He said that Covid-19 is “not the flu” and the restrictions will be in place to protect people “not to discriminate”.
He also said the Government will have a plan for reopening indoor hospitality by 19 July, although the Taoiseach did not confirm when exactly pubs and restaurants can expect to reopen their doors to customers indoors.
It comes as Government met with the hospitality sector on Thursday to hammer out a reopening plan for the industry.
Following the meeting, the Vinters Federation of Ireland (VFI) said that six reopening scenarios will be presented to Cabinet for a final decision next Tuesday.
The publicans said that while six options will be presented to Government, most of the discussions focused on devising a system that allows only vaccinated people and those recovered from Covid indoors.
Hospitality representatives were informed that primary legislation and regulations will be required to allow pubs to operate indoors in certain circumstances.
Padraig Cribben, VFI Chief Executive said: “Our primary goal is to get our members reopened in a safe manner both for publicans, their staff and customers. If a so-called vaccine pass is what’s required then the onus is now on Government to get the legislation passed next week before the Oireachtas takes its summer break.
“There remains legal issues to be resolved but we remain insistent that pubs need to reopen on 19 July. If the political will is there to make it happen then it will happen.”
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