Nphet the 'kingmakers' on reopening indoor pubs and restaurants

Nphet has recommended that indoor dining should only return for those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Picture: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

Hospitality sector representatives are due to meet Government officials later today to discuss how pubs and restaurants can safely reopen for indoor dining.

Talks are likely to centre on how EU Digital Covid Certificates - due to be sent to vaccinated people beginning Monday - might be used to facilitate indoor hospitality, and how such a measure might be enforced.

Any proposals put forward are likely to be in line with the latest advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) which recommended that a reopening, initially planned for July 5, be postponed by at least two weeks.

Nphet has recommended that indoor dining should only return for those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) Adrian Cummins confirmed that any potential plan would have to be signed off on by Nphet, who he described as “kingmakers” with regard to proposals.

“Whatever we come up with, will have to be approved by Nphet,” he said.

Mr Cummins said the hospitality sector had asked for Nphet to be “in the room” during the talks.

This had not happened, but he said Nphet representatives would be “brought into the process” this weekend.

Call for extra supports

He said that Nphet's proposal that only people who have been vaccinated be allowed avail of indoor dining narrowed a lot of options, and that plans to use antigen testing in the sector had been ruled out earlier in the week. 

Mr Cummins also called for an independent agency to ensure that whatever proposals were agreed were run “properly”.

He also called for extra supports for the sector as businesses would have to check customers before they enter premises which will add “an extra layer of bureaucracy.” 

Adrian Cummins, CEO of The Restaurants Association of Ireland.Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Mr Cummins told RTE's Morning Ireland that details of what will be required to reopen the sector will have to be agreed by next Tuesday to ensure that the reopening can coincide with the return of international travel on July 19.

Asked whether Ireland could follow other countries in developing a service app, in which a person's vaccination credentials could be added to facilitate the process, Mr Cummins said this idea had been floated but there would not be enough time to build the app before the July 19. 

Mr Cummins said that any proposals would have to be “time-limited” because, as the vaccination programme continued, 80 percent of the country would be vaccinated by the end of August or early September, meaning the scheme would likely fall out of use at that point.

Ventilation was also among the options discussed, but Mr Cummins said nothing had yet been “signed off.” 

"We don’t want to lose the summer,” he said.

"We need a system that is verifiable so we can get the industry open.”

Acceleration of vaccinations amid fear of Delta spread

Plans for the earlier reopening of hospitality were put on hold, largely as a result of health officials’ fear of the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant.

In a bid to halt transmission of the highly transmissible variant, health and Government officials have announced several recent accelerations to the national vaccine rollout.

From yesterday, the HSE's online vaccination registration portal opened to the 30 - 34 age group - two days earlier than initially planned. 

From Monday, pharmacies around the country began administering the one-shot Janssen Covid-19 vaccine to those aged 18 to 34. 

HSE CEO Paul Reid and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed yesterday that more than 4.5m doses of the vaccines had now been administered in Ireland, with more than 120,000 given out so far this week.

At present, 67% of the adult population has received their first dose of the vaccine, while 51.5% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

Two million people are now fully vaccinated - and 70% of adults have received at least one #CovidVaccine dose.

Brilliant effort by all the @HSELive staff and volunteers involved in our rollout

— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) July 8, 2021