The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, has denied that NPHET is 'anti-alcohol' after the delay to the return of indoor dining.
Pubs and restaurants were set to reopen on July 5 - next Monday - but those plans were quashed after the advice given to Government about the dangerous Delta variant.
But, facing questioning from members of the press this afternoon, Dr Holohan denied that NPHET were strictly against pubs or alcohol as a whole.
When questioned by Irish Daily Star reporter Laura Colgan, Dr Holohan said: "It was the focus of NPHET to discuss the coronavirus - not alcohol or the use of alcohol. I don't think it's fair to say that NPHET has an anti-alcohol stance.
"We stick to the evidence when it comes to coronavirus. The judgement we make when we make recommendations are simple - it's how likely an activity could lead to transmission, and this applies to all activities, not just those indoors.
"The use of alcohol, particularly indoors is related to close personal contact in poorly-ventilated areas without PPE and this leads to people getting closer which could lead to transmission. There's no judgement when we're talking about any activity - it's just how likely it could cause transmission. None of us are good for doing what we should be doing after a couple of pints.
"Alcohol use creates the kind of environments and social circumstances that the virus could easily spread. We have to raise a concern about it."
Dr Holohan was speaking after 448 new Covid cases were announced by officials - with two further deaths being confirmed.
Those two deaths brought the total number of deaths from the virus in Ireland to 5,000.
