'Surprising, unexplainable and economically unreasonable' - industry bodies demand evidence underpinning NPHET recommendation

'Any move to close significant swathes of retail would have a devastating impact on thousands of businesses and jobs in the run up to the key Christmas trading period'

Restaurants Association of Ireland said the Government must decide if Ireland can live with Covid as outlined in the plan to tackle the virus or will they plunge the country into an economic lockdown.

The recommendation that Ireland moves to Level 5 restrictions has been met with shock and anger by industry bodies, with many urging the government not to accept the recommendation and demanding the evidence underpinning NPHET recommendations be released.

The CEO of country’s largest business representative body, IBEC, said it is “intolerable” that six months after the first lockdown “we are still receiving both vague and changing criteria to advance such serious restrictions.”