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LAST UPDATE | 15 Apr 2021
INDOOR AND OUTDOOR dining could return this summer, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said, as the Government prepares to reveal a detailed reopening plan for May, June and July.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar said that the Government will meet to set out the plan at the end of April – two weeks after a number of restrictions were eased this week.
More outdoor activities, a phased return of retail and the return of personal services such as hairdressers have been earmarked for the next easing of restrictions, which will begin on 4 May.
But the Tánaiste has said he is “increasingly confident” that both indoor and outdoor dining will also return over the summer.
He said: “It is increasingly evident that outdoor dining is much safer than indoor.
“But we would hope to get to the point where both will be possible.
“I’m increasingly confident that both will be possible over the course of the summer. But I don’t want to raise expectations either and give false hope.”
He added: “All being well, we will see non-essential retail and personal services reopening across the month of May.”
Varadkar said the Government has not yet decided if so-called ‘vaccine passports’ will be required to use services, such as restaurants, libraries or hairdressers.
A Digital Green Certificate is being worked on by EU institutions, but will apply to international travel.
Varadkar said: “We haven’t made any decision yet as to whether we would use that to access certain services within the State.
“I know that’s what Israel has done, that’s what Denmark is considering doing. I suppose we’d like to see how it works out there before we consider going down that route ourselves. It’s not a bad idea, but it is fraught with complications as well,” he added.
Calls for reopening
The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) has today called for the hospitality sector to be allowed to begin reopening, starting with outdoor services for all venues including pubs and restaurants, in six weeks time.
Earlier today, the Stormont Executive announced plans to allowed indoor pubs and restaurants to reopen on 24 May.
“Following the publication of the reopening plan in Northern Ireland, the government should now set out a plan for reopening hospitality in the Republic, beginning in six weeks’ time,” LVA chief executive Donall O’Keeffe said.
“The reopening should start with outdoor service for all hospitality, which includes traditional pubs, gastropubs and restaurants and with capacity dictated by social distancing,” O’Keeffe said.
“That timeframe would allow for the further rollout of the vaccine and would also ensure that NPHET’s request for social contact to remain unchanged for the next six weeks is met.”
The Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) today also called on the government to “immediately” publish its plans for the reopening of the hospitality sector.
“Pubs in the North know they will reopen indoors on 24 May, which introduces a welcome degree of certainty and stability to the trade,” VFI chief executive Padraig Cribben said.
“That’s exactly the sort of approach we need here as publicans continue to feel abandoned by government,” he said.
‘Cautiously optimistic for the summer’
Tourism Minister Catherine Martin has said she is working on plans that could allow the tourist industry to re-open this summer for Irish holidaymakers.
In an interview with RTÉ’s News at One programme, Martin explained that she would meet with representatives from the tourism and hospitality sectors in May to discuss plans ahead of the crucial summer months.
She said the meeting was brought forward from June to allow the government to plan for the height of the tourist season.
“I’d be cautiously optimistic for the summer. I think if we look at where we are right now, for the first time this year there are less than 200 people in hospital, there are less than 50 in ICU. Cases are falling and the R rate is below one,” she said.
But the minister also claimed that speculation about what could happen is “unhelpful” to those within the industry as representatives wanted “clear and consistent communication”.
“What we will be doing is sitting down in two weeks time, and we’ll be looking at the phased reopening of non-essential retail, hairdressers, museums, galleries, libraries, and even sooner than that, golf and tennis will resume [with] sport training,” she said.
“But also at the end of the month, and this is crucial for the sector, we will be also be developing a plan for June and July would look like…
“I think we’ll be looking at, realistically for the summer, a strong domestic and tourism summer season.”
However, the minister said plans for tourism had to consider the vaccine rollout, the risk of variants of the virus spreading, and daily case numbers and hospital numbers.
“As I said, I’m cautiously optimistic, but we have seen time and time again since this pandemic started – and it’s not just Ireland, it’s countries throughout the world – how things change.”
However, Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), earlier cast doubt on plans for summer holidays abroad in the EU.
“Reopening in the way we were in 2019 will still take some time,” she told the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).
“Reopening in a way without all these restrictions will depend on how quickly we can roll out the vaccinations and how effective the vaccine is protective in the longer.”
- With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha, Hayley Halpin and Stephen McDermott.
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Thanks to the government – Home is unattainable for masses of people that are not disabled…
And to those that are unfortunate to be disabled should forget getting a home here in Ireland.
@John Johnes: interesting comment John. I mean I think it is really fascinating that anyone would compare the two. I mean the reality is most people in employment can infact purchase a home somewhere but many wish to live in a certain location. The sad reality for many people with disabilities is the limited access to employment, mortgage approval and subsequent life assurance to draw down any mortgage offer they may be offered and of course servicing the mortgage depending on the nature of the disability. This along with genuine restrictions on where one can live, e.g. to be near services, healthcare, supports, functioning public services like transport links etc again depending on the nature of the disability and generalising grossly here. I find it fascinating that anyone would bring on the perceived wows of the “typical” “mainstream” or non disabled person into the sole comment on this article.
@Sarah Lou: yeah but that’s John for you
@Sarah Lou:
Most people in employment can purchase a home? The average wage nationwide is less than 50k, good luck with getting a mortgage that would be enough to buy a house.
@Dean: 50000×3.5 +10% deposit, would get you a home somewhere in Ireland. As I said above most people who say they cant afford a home, mean they cant afford a home where they want to live. Also many if not most people buy a home with 2 incomes statistically, so that is 100000×3.5 + 10% and would buy you a home in many areas. I cant actually believe you think a person on 50k without a disability is in anyway comparable to someone on the Disability Allowance without the ability to earn any wage or secure any mortgage etc. This is a little to me like when people were describing individuals in dublin airport going on their jollies as the third world. Unpleasant Airport experience, definitely not satisfactory or acceptable in Ireland in 2022 but no kids were dying from malnourishment in the airport. Get a little perspective.
Owning a home is only a pipe dream for anyone in Ireland regardless of disability or not
@Ronan Horan: Really? I’m someone in Ireland I’ll be collecting the keys to my new build home by the end of the month.
@Roy Dowling: Roy you have been around here long enough to know noone wants to hear your good news!!!!! Just kidding congrats and well done for highlighting that it’s not all doomsday stuff
Not to minimise the challenges faced by people living with disabilities, but the reason for this is the same reason that numerous other people not living with disabilities, also struggle to find or afford a home, the lack of affordable social housing.
Which is a failure of successive governments across all parties that have been in government in the past and three of whom are currently in government, to build social housing.
Not because the demand hasn’t existed dyring the last 35 years, but because they instead chose to keep house values inflated, by limiting the supply and facilitating property developers and investors to capitalise on the artificially created circumstances of turning houses into assets that out performed all other investment opportunities, great for their cronies, but the knock on effect is that houses are now so overvalued, that hedge funds have bought them up to control the rental market, further inflating the price of rent to levels that even people with good jobs can’t afford to pay.
The only way out of this cul de sac of greed is to elect a government that will deliver social housing on the scale required, this will allow everyone that needs social housing to be housed and also lower the prices of houses and rent across the board to benefit everyone, except property developers and hedge funds.
This socialist solution may be a bitter pill for some to swallow, but the alternative is continuing to watch generations of our children leaving Ireland, because they can’t afford to live here…
@David Van-Standen: We know how this works. Sinn Fein/IRA will promise to fix all our woes, including global famine. But if they do get into power will claim that due to years of mismanagement they are unable to fulfill our dreams and will be worse than those who went before as they’ll have no experience of government. What they have is a well oiled machine to rally voters.
@David Van-Standen: The subject is persons with Disabilities and homelessness.
Yet as usual, people forget the main topic to push their own agenda.
Please stuck to the topic,
The topic is disabled peoples access to housing, nothing else.
If you are not interested in the subject but housing for able people instead comment on an article about that subject, as this is not that article
3d printed housing technolgy may help when it gets going properly. Apparently the build is much much cheaper as labour is significantly reduced.
The first thing we want should be for the Government to lay down rules for banks. With regard to mortgages when on disability allowance Banks should be made give these people the loan they need at a reduced interest rate. They could recoup 50% of their loss on mortgages over one million euro – that’d solve the problem but obviously No politician has the ingenuity to pull this off.
Amazing all these comments by people pushing their own issues and nothing to do with the topic.
Nothing unusual with, disability issues being ignored or worse used to push personal agendas.
Our needs and campaigns are regularly hijacked by able people to promote themselves and their agenda.
Disability rights, issues etc will then be fully ignored again until they see the possibility to use us again.
Noteworthy have worked hard to show the reality of my community and its issues.
Sick of the crocodile tears on here for my community. Not just here either, the hypocrisy of most people in relation to disability inclusion is frightening.
Most of it is by accident but it still has the same affect on us.
Educate yourselves on the topic, beome aware of the people in my community.
Here is a shocking thought, ASK THEM?
Julie Helen
No one can solve the Affordable Housing issue in Ireland until the Referendum on Housing is passed. Only then can the laws be passed to remove all the barriers to enable affordable house building and affordable rents for all Irish citizens.
Current Irish Constitution is ambiguous, vague and open to interpretation which suits all those vested interests in high Rents and high House prices.
New home in France for €160,000 (80K site & 80K house.) not €260,000 in Ireland.
37% of cost of new homes in Ireland is completely artificial and has nothing to do with the cost of build. VAT alone on a new house in Ireland is €28,000 .. none in France.
A Referendum is the only way out for all those locked out of home ownership and rent slaves.
https://www.change.org/p/irish-referendum-on-family-home-special-status
@Neuville-Kepler62F: Please stick to the topic and keep your own agenda to yourself.
the topic is the DISABLED COPMMUNITY and Housing
It could be argued that Homelessness is the new disabled?
have your say