‘Nine in 10 restaurants won’t open under 2m distancing rule’

RESTAURANTS have called on the Government to subsidise wages in the sector for the next 12 months to allow businesses to recover from closures enforced by Covid-19.

They also claim speeding up the phased reopening of the country will not help them unless social distancing measures are relaxed and halved from two metres to one metre.

Under the roadmap to reopen the country, restaurants will be allowed to reopen on June 29. Pubs serving food can also reopen on the same date.

Despite the Government relenting to pressure and allowing businesses to reopen more quickly, the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) estimates 90pc of members will still be unable to open later this month because of social distancing measures.

It has called for the twometre social distancing requirement to be halved to one metre in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) advice.

The National Public Health Emergency Team is recommending people remain two metres apart. The WHO is asking people to avoid public spaces and advising they stay one metre apart to prevent liquid droplets spreading Covid-19 when a person who is infected coughs, sneezes or speaks.

RAI chief executive Adrian Cummins believes even a 1.5-metre compromise is not sufficient to justify reopening restaurants. He said customers will make their own judgment on how safe restaurants are and “cowboys” will be found out.

“It is unviable for restaurants to reopen unless the two-metre requirement is dropped — 90pc of restaurants will not open at two metres. If it goes to one metre, we have a fighting chance,” Cummins said yesterday.

“If the requirement is between 1.5m and two metres, 90pc of businesses will still not be able to open. It is not viable for them.”

He said staying shut during the crisis will leave the RAI’s 3,000 members with severe legacy debts. He estimates this stands at €100,000 on average for each restaurant.

Added to this is a financial burden of ensuring customers and staff are protected. He claims restaurants are spending, on average, €20,000 on furniture, Perspex and training to make businesses safe, and called for supports from the government.

“The biggest inspectors we will see in all of this will be our customers. We need to make sure any cowboys are rooted out from day one and it is a level playing pitch for everybody,” he said.

“I am fearful for the longterm survival of many businesses unless a specific aid package is put in place that puts employment at the centre of any recovery. The industry will require the wage subsidy scheme for the next 12 months for many businesses to survive.”

Speeding up the reopening of the country means hotels, hostels and tourism activity can also resume when the restaurants reopen in three weeks’ time. Officials hope this will allow the tourism sector to salvage some business in the summer months.

Failte Ireland chief executive Paul Kelly said research shows consumers are interested in “safe breaks”.

The sector is in a “deep crisis”, he said. “Failte Ireland is finalising operational guidelines and protocols for the safe reopening of tourism businesses.

“These detailed sector-specific guidelines will prepare tourism and hospitality businesses for safe reopening and help instil confidence among the public.”