The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that there will be no additional administrative burden on pubs and restaurants under the temporary measures requiring them to retain records of all food orders for 28 days.
Pubs and restaurants are already keeping a till receipts for VAT purposes he told RTÉ radio’s News at One, so they will just need to make them available for inspection for 28 days.
Mr Donnelly also said that the new regulations would help enforcement against “the tiny minority” who were flouting the rules.
Earlier, Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris acknowledged that new Covid-19 regulations for restaurants and pubs were unclear after a backlash from the hospitality industry over the measures.
The new rules, which came into effect on Thursday, compel restaurants and pubs serving food to make a record of all meals ordered. They must be able to make the records available to a member of An Garda Síochána for up to 28 days after the meal.
Both the Restaurants Association of Ireland and Licensed Vintners Association have written to the Data Protection Commissioner seeking a view on the new requirements, while Fianna Fáil TD Marc MacSharry hit out at what he described as “Stasi” guidelines.
Stasi
— Marc MacSharryTD (@MarcMacsharryTD) September 3, 2020
In a message to members of his party, Mr McSharry called on the Taoiseach to reverse “police state restrictions” which he described as “authoritarian”, “unnecessary” and “ridiculous”.
‘Loaded language’
Mr Harris said there had been a lack of clarity over the rules and outlined that the records of peoples' meals would be kept through receipts – it was important that such measures were communicated with stakeholders, he said.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Harris was critical of the rhetoric of some politicians. “The use of loaded language has definitely gone too far, we've seen bizarre terms with peculiar historical connotations – I think people in the Oireachtas need to mind their language. I think there's been a lack of clarity in relation to this.
“The Government doesn't care if you had a cup of coffee or a desert or whether you went for the banoffee – or as one publican asked me last night if you went for the garlic sauce or the pepper sauce.
“What it is about is basically a bit of common sense prevailing here, the reality is, as of today the law is you can only open if you're serving food as well.
“I want to get back to a situation where we can move back to where we need to move back to, where we try to work out a way of living alongside the virus, where we actually get more businesses back open. Where we do get our pubs open. The Government is working on a new national plan to live alongside this virus for the next few months.”
The Minister said that the new law was a temporary measure to enable the provisions that were already in place to be enforced, “but I do think it's important that our state agencies communicate with the stakeholders.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald criticised the new rules for as “nuts” and “a bit wacky”.
She said: “This business of keeping records of 'did you have jelly and ice cream or did you go for apple pie', is just not the place we should be in.”
Industry response
Chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins, condemned the way the latest guidelines were communicated to those in the industry and said he has written to the Data Protection Commissioner to seek her opinion on the matter.
"The biggest issue is the way that things are being done," he said. "The lack of consultation. The sly announcements."
Mr Cummins said guidelines should not be “slid in” without prior consultation with trade bodies, and that the changes are an added administrative burden for business owners who are already under pressure.
Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, said making records of all food ordered by each customer and then storing it for 28 days is "bureaucracy gone mad".
"Not only is it too impractical for our members to implement, but why does the Government think this law will help in the fight against Covid? It’s madness," he said. "We’re all for making customers feel safe in our pubs, but this new measure only increases pressure on staff already coping with a host of new safety measures."
A spokesperson for the Licensed Vintners Association described the latest development as “ridiculous”.
“No thought has been put into the admin burden this is going to create," he said. "How is it going to help protect public health knowing what topping was on a customer’s pizza, or what way their potatoes were cooked?”
“We believe this a complete overreach. 1984, here we come.”
Minister of State at the Department of Business Damien English said the new law was not about what a person ate, it was proof that they did eat.
Mr English told RTÉ's Prime Time on Thursday night that the measure was to enable public health teams as well as the gardaí to monitor compliance with Covid regulations. He acknowledged that the new rules would mean “more hassle” and “more paperwork.”
The new regulation was there to protect people, said the Minister, to help reopen businesses and to “ensure a level playing field.”
Most businesses would record this information anyway, he added.
