Final meetings on indoor dining rules
Final meetings to agree the legal rules for indoor dining will take place this morning.
It is hoped the regulations will be published later today followed by the operational guidelines for the hospitality sector.
The Attorney General will meet with government officials and Fáilte Ireland this morning to finalise the legal underpinning for the new indoor dining system ahead of Monday’s reopening.
Outstanding legal issues centre on enforcement and recognition of international Covid certificates.
Hospitality representatives have not yet seen the full details.
Yesterday, the hospitality sector got a technology run through of the new scanner to check digital Covid certificates.
It is expected this will go live later today on the main Government website so that bars and restaurants can test its use over the weekend.
The Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland said 20,000 businesses want to reopen for indoor hospitality from next Monday.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Adrian Cummins said he will be meeting Fáilte Ireland officials this afternoon to see the final document so they know as a trade representative what the exact requirements are for the industry.
He said there is a legal requirement for businesses to carry out indoor service in a proper manner and that they expect all businesses to apply all the public health guidelines and also that customers understand what is required of them.
The latest easing of restrictions comes as Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reid said the five-day moving average of cases is up 95% on last week, and the seven-day average has risen by 93%.
The five-day moving average is up 160% compared to a fortnight ago,
he added, and the 14-day incidence rate has increased by 66% compared to
last week.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the number of Covid-19 cases related to overseas travel has increased “very sharply” recently.
In a post on Twitter, he said that between 5 and 18 July, 676 cases were confirmed in people who had returned from Spain, the UK and Portugal in the previous fortnight.
Article Source – Final meetings on indoor dining rules – RTE – Sandra Hurley
