The Government’s plan to reopen the indoor hospitality sector for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and accompanying minors is a “reckless mistake”, according to Rise party TD Paul Murphy.
Indoor hospitality in Ireland is set to reopen for people with evidence of full vaccination or immunity from Covid-19 from July 26th at the latest.
The decision was at “the behest” of a private business lobby and would come at a cost to public health, Mr Murphy told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“The Government is rushing into this,” he added. “We know it’s not a safe time now.”
Mr Murphy said that if the reopening of the sector goes ahead then the number of daily Covid-19 cases could rise from 600 per day to 2,000 to 3,000 per day, and then there would be no choice but to impose another lockdown.
That would be absolutely devastating for people, he said.
Herd immunity
Mr Murphy said that if the Government were to wait until September or October when everyone who wanted to be was vaccinated, then the sector could open safely when there was herd immunity.
There was no question that this was a difficult time for the hospitality industry, he said, but there was no safe way to reopen the sector. It was safer to be outside and there were “zero laws” about ventilation.
Meanwhile, Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin defended the Government’s plans for the reopening of indoor dining, saying that the proposals were about striking a balance between protecting public health and jobs.
The proposals had been drawn up following engagement with representatives for the industry, she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
This was a temporary system, with a ‘sunset clause’ in the autumn, by which time everyone who wanted to be vaccinated would have been vaccinated, she said.
Compliance officers
There were a number of layers of checks and balances contained within the proposals, Ms Martin said. Anyone wanting to access indoor hospitality could do so by presenting a certificate to show they had been vaccinated or a recovery certificate to indicate they had recovered from the virus.
Compliance officers would make unannounced calls to premises to ensure that the measures were being enforced. The compliance officers would be from either the Health Service Executive (HSE) or the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), she explained.
If breaches were observed, then the gardaí would be contacted.
Ms Martin said that a working group, including representatives from Fáilte Ireland, the HSA and the Department of Health, will meet at 2pm today and a briefing of the Opposition will take place this morning.
Time was of the essence and it was hoped that the proposals could be in place as soon as was practicable, she said. Ms Martin said it was hard to indicate an exact date, but it would be no later than July 26th.
The country was on a good trajectory with the vaccination roll out, said the Minister. By the end of July, 64 per cent of people would have been vaccinated and 75 per cent by the end of August. There were also measures in place for PCR and antigen testing, she said.
