Harris must ‘highlight’ date for opening nation’s salons
HAIRDRESSERS could have their wait to reopen cut by three weeks to the end of the month.
One Government TD has pleaded with Health Minister Simon Harris to give an answer on the speed up as ‘there’s a multitude of the public going around with hair down to their knees’.
Many in the hairdressing sector have called for reopening on June 29, in line with the third phase, which would be just over two weeks’ time.
Hairdressers and barbers have also been proactive, having published their own plan for an early restart – including guidelines on leaning forward, and getting clients to fill out forms declaring they have no coronavirus symptoms.
Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell, who raised the issue in the Dáil, said he has received a ‘huge amount’ of queries about the
‘They say the earlier the better’
reopening of hairdressers and barber shops in his Limerick constituency. ‘I’ve met them quite a number of times and I think they want certainty when they can reopen. They say the earlier the better,’ he said: He asked: ‘When do you expect a decision will be made because you will appreciate, apart from the hair salons and barber shops owners, there’s a multitude of the public going around with hair down to their knees and it’s the one area people want to get back to?’
Mr Harris told the Dáil that the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met yesterday to discuss the country’s third and fourth phase as part of the country’s plan to reopen the economy and society.
Mr Harris said: ‘I know this is a serious issue because it’s people’s livelihoods. This is an industry that employs a lot of people in towns, villages and cities across our country and, like every other industry, they want certainty as to when they can get back.’
He said while he will ‘appreciate’ his barber all the more, he understands that for many people there is an element of good mental health associated with hairdressers.
‘We are now looking at what belongs in each phase – NPHET will provide advice to Government on that,’ he said.
‘I presume they started advice on that today and it’s likely Government will consider that next week, so I am hoping by the end of next week we will have a direct answer to that question in terms of what phase do the remaining sectors fit in.’
Meanwhile, Dublin hairdresser Elaine Sullivan said clear advice is needed from health officials on how to safely reopen.
Ms Sullivan, who owns Aviary Lane, which opened in 2012, also said that firm restrictions on capacity ‘won’t work’.
‘If we are told we can only have one client in each time, it will reduce my capacity down to 20%, which means I will have 57 slots in one week and that’s what we do on a Saturday alone,’ she said.
‘It would mean getting three clients done in a day. I know other hair salons are spending thousands on screens, but we haven’t been told that we need them yet.
‘Hairdressers don’t have that
‘Common sense has to prevail’
kind of money – we live from week to week.
‘Common sense has to prevail here and we will do what we can to reopen when it’s safe. I would rather wait and not put ourselves in further debt.
‘I have 300 people on waiting lists to get their hair done, and one person at a time is not doable.’