Fáilte Ireland has this evening published Guidelines for the Reopening of Pubs (which include pubs, gastro pubs and bars). The document can be accessed HERE.
Over the last 24 hours Fáilte Ireland has been engaged in intensive discussions with officials from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport following guidance from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) for food service businesses to ensure some of our concerns, and that of the industry, were addressed.
Fáilte Ireland advocated on behalf of the industry for the changes outlined below, which have now been accepted by the HPSC:
1. Seating time has changed from 90 minutes to 105 minutes with an additional 15 minutes between bookings (2 hours in total). The 15 minutes has been added to allow for adequate cleaning and to ensure customers leave and enter without mixing.
2. Contact tracing: Businesses will now be required to collect the contact information of just the party lead. Previously, the original HPSC guidance stated that this should be collected for the full group.
Where 2 metre physical distancing is not possible, businesses are now permitted to implement 1 metre physical distancing in controlled environments provided other risk mitigation requirements have been met and pre-booked time slots are in place.
Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland said -
“These guidelines are intended to provide clarity to businesses so that they can reopen safely on June 29th. I would like to thank my team and officials from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport who have been working tirelessly on ensuring these guidelines are practical while adhering to public health advice.”
Fáilte Ireland guidelines are living documents which means as Government restrictions and Public Health guidelines evolve, these documents will also evolve to reflect new Government advice and changes to protocols when they emerge.
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