Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin today welcomed the Government decision to agree a phased approach to reopen the hospitality sector in a cautious but progressive manner.
The Ministers and their officials and agencies have worked with hospitality industry representatives and unions over the last two weeks to assess options to operationalise the NPHET advice of 28th June that restrictions on indoor restaurant and bar services be eased for those that are fully vaccinated or recovered by COVID-19.
The lifting of restriction was initially scheduled for 5th July 2021, but the rapid spread of the Delta variant internationally and modelling of the potential impacts on public health in Ireland led to NPHET advising a more cautious approach to reopening.
Conditions
- ease restrictions on indoor hospitality for members of the public who are fully protected by vaccination or who have recovered from COVID-19 in the previous six months. Over 2 million people are now fully vaccinated in Ireland;
- members of the public will be able to avail of indoor services on the presentation of verifiable evidence of vaccination or immunity status. Customer data once verified will not be retained by the café, bar or restaurant;
- the Government’s new Digital Covid Certificates (DCC), which Ireland and other EU countries are implementing, can be used by members of the public as evidence of being fully vaccinated, or other medical documentation, which will be set out in guidelines in the coming days;