"Compliance is something that we all have to buy into."
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the indoor dining reopening will be about "building up compliance" as the public must "buy into" the rules outlined by government.
Speaking to
RTÉ News on Tuesday, Martin said that there is a need to reopen in a "cautious and safe way" as the government is concerned about the Delta Covid-19 variant.
Martin added that he "people need to be" concerned about the Delta variant and that "compliance officers" will patrol pubs and restaurants to make sure that only vaccinated people, accompanying under 18s, and those who have recently recovered from the virus are permitted to dine indoors, as was
outlined by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on Monday evening.
"We want to get the balance right between managing to suppress the virus, and getting jobs in the economy back going again," Martin said.
"Compliance is something that we all have to buy into. Government has to create a framework that's sensible in terms of a compliance framework and compliance officers working with industry to ensure that this is done in a compliant way."
When asked if the compliance inspectors will be working 9-5 hours, the Taoiseach said that he thinks people will comply with the new rules as building up compliance will be "key" to the reopening.
"I remember when I brought in the smoking ban. I had the exact same questions. And that's what I meant by compliance," he said.
"I think people understand what Government is doing here. They understand the rationale and the motivation behind this. And I think people will comply with it."
