PUBS ARE BACK IN BUSINESS
Fully-vaccinated punters indoors by next week but pass forgers face €2k fine or jail
PUBS and restaurants are set to welcome punters back indoors before the end of next week.
Two million people in Ireland who are fully vaccinated or immune will be the first to be allowed in.
Making the announcement yesterday, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, inset, said: “This is our best opportunity to get indoor hospitality reopened.”
Anyone caught forging a vaccine pass will face a fine of €2,000 or a month in prison.
PUBS and restaurants are set to reopen for indoor dining for fully-vaccinated people and those who have recovered from infection “some day” next week, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said.
Legislation to underpin this was approved by Cabinet yesterday which will enable the reopening of hospitality “safely, sustainably and in line with public health advice”.
But nightclubs will have to wait “some time”, according to the Tanaiste and Enterprise Minister.
A briefing for members of the Oireachtas health committee has been arranged for this morning where they will be asked to waive the prelegislative scrutiny phase. It will then be a matter of procedure for the Dail and Seanad to pass the legislation and for the President to sign it into law.
Michael D Higgins must consider legislation for at least five days and then sign it into law at the end of the fifth day, or on the sixth or seventh day.
Government and industry sources told the Irish Mirror last night that it is “widely expected” this will be either July 22 or 23.
This will see in the region of 180,000 hospitality workers get back to fulltime employment, many for the first time in nearly 16 months.
Mr Varadkar said: “This is our best opportunity to get indoor hospitality reopened.”
An exemption will apply to unvaccinated staff working in pubs and restaurants, the Fine Gael leader revealed. He added: “They will of course be able to get a drink or have a meal after or before work in the place in which they work.”
More than two million people who are fully vaccinated or immune will be able to dine or drink in pubs and restaurants.
Mr Varadkar said people aged under 18 can dine indoors with a fullyvaccinated parent or guardian.
People who have recovered from Covid-19 in the previous six months can also eat inside.
The legislation will see the reopening of indoor dining in three phases.
Phase one will allow fully-vaccinated people or a person who has recovered from Covid to dine indoors.
Phase two will allow people indoors with a negative PCR test and in phase three those with a negative antigen test will be permitted.
Nightclubs will not be allowed to operate for “quite some time”, although they can reopen for bar and table service only.
Tourism Minister Catherine Martin
said there will be a pilot event for the reopening of nightclubs and for country and western events.
She will be seeking advice on how to allow live music indoors and outdoors on licensed premises.
Restaurants Association of Ireland chief Adrian Cummins has described the announcement as a giant leap towards reopening hospitality businesses safely, viably and sustainably.
He said: “We are moving forward. It’s not perfect but we will make it perfect over the weeks and months ahead.”
Vintners’ Federation of Ireland chief Padraig Cribben told RTE the proposed plans are “cumbersome, unwieldy and unnecessary” but added his organisation will “work with members to ensure they have the protocols in place” to be able to resume operations.
However, Sinn Fein and the Social Democrats both expressed scepticisim over the proposals and how they will work.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health yesterday announced 600 new cases of Covid-19. The number of people in intensive care units is 16 with 64 people being treated for the virus in hospital.