Paschal Donohoe has cast fresh doubt over pubs reopening indoors from July 5th.
One of the Government’s most senior ministers revealed the Government’s thinking when he said that the reopening now hinges on the evolving Covid situation - which is not good.
He said: “When we announced our reopening plan, [we said] that each stage of the reopening plan is dependent on the health of our country and is dependent on the nature of the disease, and on the impact that is having on our health.”
The Minister for Finance is emphasising how reliant the Government’s decisions next week will be on the Covid situation in our hospitals, which is uncertain now with the new Delta variant increasing in prevalence.
Delta is running rampant in the UK, representing over 90% of all new cases there, and it’s widely expected the same pattern will emerge here because of our open border and historical Common Travel Area arrangements.
He added: “It is too early to say yet whether the plans that we have in place are going to be changed.”
Mr Donohoe said the Government had “always emphasised” that this was the case.
However, this signals a marked move away from the Government’s spinning that July 5 was definitely the date for the return of indoor dining.
And it follows Health Minister Stephen Donnelly saying earlier that we are now “surrounded by” the Delta variant.
Mr Donnelly added that Delta is “more contagious, more severe and less susceptible to vaccines.”
Mr Donohoe then told the Irish Mirror on Wednesday afternoon: “It is unfortunately the case that the Delta variant is showing clear signs of growing in our country.
“It is infectious, it is very infectious, but following on from that, two very important points, firstly, this is why the vaccination programme is so important.
“We have two thirds of our country that have now received a vaccine and we have one third of our country vaccinated.
“And every week that goes by, with hundreds of thousands more of our citizens receiving vaccination, the safer we are from the variant.
“Secondly, the Government did say when we announced our reopening plan that each stage of the reopening plan is dependent on the health of our country and is dependent on the nature of the disease, and on the impact that is having on our health.
“It is too early to say yet whether the plans that we have in place are going to be changed.
“But we understand that it is obviously a matter of huge concern to our country, to our citizens and to our employers.”
He promised that any proposed changes to the plan will be communicated to the public immediately.
