Tánaiste: Hairdressers and shops will not reopen until May at earliest

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said: "I know people are missing their barber and their hairdresser" but "we are talking May at the earliest".

Hairdressers and shops will not be allowed to reopen until late April or May at the earliest, the Tánaiste has said.

Leo Varadkar said the Government is now looking at April 5 for easing the 5km travel restriction, allowing people to meet up outdoors for activities such as limited sports training and the return of construction.

While greater restrictions around foreign travel, including hotel quarantining, will be introduced before any easing of guidelines, Mr Varadkar said people will be able to holiday in Ireland this summer.

"I do think that there will be a domestic tourist season this summer like there was last summer."

Asked about the return of hairdressers, the Tánaiste joked "my hair's a bit of a mess at the moment and I know people are missing their barber and their hairdresser" but he said, "we are talking May at the earliest".

He said it will be later again before the hospitality sector is allowed to get back to businesses.

Mr Varadkar said: "The kinds of things that we're considering for April 5, and I do mean considering, they are quite limited, it will be a relaxation of the 5km rule, allowing more outdoor activities and also things like construction being allowed to go back.

"When it comes to the reopening of shops, reopening of personal services, hospitality, that wouldn't be happening on April 5. Realistically, the earliest you'd be talking about some of those kind of things would be at the end of April, more likely early May."

Leo Varadkar said the Government is now looking at April 5 for easing the 5km travel restriction, allowing people to meet up outdoors for activities such as limited sports training and the return of construction. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

A number Fine Gael members called for the limit of 10 people at funerals to be relaxed at a meeting of the party last night, but Mr Varadkar told Newstalk Breakfast that this would not be considered before April 5.

He said that the Government will look at four criteria — new variants, the rollout of the vaccine, the number of new cases, and hospitalisations — before any restrictions are eased.

Mr Varadkar has today launched a new scheme to help small businesses that will provide a €4,000 grant now, and a further €4,000 in the second quarter of the year.

"This is a very targeted scheme, it's targeted at businesses that haven't been forced to close to the public by government order, or perhaps were never closed to the public and are still technically open, but their turnover is down 75% or more."

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the UK has done a "very good job" on the vaccine rollout but by the end of June "we will rate quite well with our closest neighbour".

"The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, myself and others are constantly exploring whether it's possible to access more vaccines from other parts of the world, obviously vaccines that need to be approved by the European Union and the European Medicines Agency,

"Let there be no doubt that we're looking all of the time to get as many vaccines as we can into the country but virtually every country in the world is doing the same. And that's the problem," Mr Coveney told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.