Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said he would like to announce a financial "survival plan" for pubs at the end of the month if they have to remain shut.
Mr Varadkar told the Irish Mirror that he doesn’t know yet when pubs will reopen and in some ways publicans are making a sacrifice for society.
Pub reps this morning said they are not optimistic about reopening at the end of August and have called for a pub support package to be announced immediately.
After meeting pub reps last night, Mr Vardakar said he told publicans that the government wasn’t in a position to compensate everyone for the money they have lost as a consequence of the pandemic.
Mr Varadkar told the Irish Mirror: “I met with the publicans, I hear what they’re saying.
“In some ways they’re being asked to make a sacrifice for the rest of society.
“But what they’re saying to us is that if they’re not able to reopen on August 31, that they will need additional financial support in order to survive so they will still be there when they’re able to reopen whenever that is.
“And I’m sympathetic to that argument and we’ll see what we can do.
“If it is the case that on August 28 that we’re saying to the pubs that you have to stay closed for a bit longer at least until we see how things go with the schools with the virus, I would like to be in a position at that same Cabinet meeting to have a package of additional financial support for pubs and nightclubs, recognising that they’re a sector that are being ordered by the government to stay closed longer than everyone else.”
Mr Varadkar was speaking at the Guinness Enterprise Centre where he announced a €12 million fund to help enterprise centres impacted by Covid-19.
When asked why pubs had to remain shut despite accepting there will be clusters in schools when they reopen, Mr Varadkar told the Irish Mirror that pubs are not as essential as schools.
He said: “I think the vast majority of people in society will accept that children being able to return to school, getting their education and families getting back into routine is an overriding social economic priority for us.
“I love to go to the pub, I’m looking forward to going to the pub again and to nightclubs but they’re not as important as schools.”
