“People need some degree of quality of life… as we go into Christmas”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the new 8pm curfew for pubs and restaurants will give people the opportunity to socialise “without overdoing it”.
The Taoiseach announced the rule on Friday as part of a handful of new restrictions designed to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 as the population is administered booster vaccines.
It had been reported earlier on the Friday that a potential 5pm curfew for hospitality was on the cards after advice from NPHET.
However, Cabinet later agreed to implement the later 8pm curfew, with the new restrictions remaining in effect until 30 January.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, the Taoiseach said the 5pm recommendation was put forward while he was attending a European Union summit in Brussels.
“I would have met Paschal Donohoe late that evening… we had a discussion around the balance between – you shut aspects of hospitality, where do people go?” he said.
“Do you usher people back into households?
“Now in the overall research and analysis that NPHET did, they feel that overall, you will get numbers down so then it’s a judgement call.”
The Taoiseach said there was “no exact science” to the timing but added that there were two aspects to the decision to settle on the 8pm curfew in his view.
“There’s the hospitality sector, which is now again devastated because of the news. We can help them with supports,” he explained.
“But also there’s people – that people need some degree of quality of life as well as we go into Christmas.
“And that at least the 8pm gives an opportunity for people to get out maybe for an occasion, have a couple of drinks on Christmas Eve or whatever without overdoing it and do it in a safe way.
“Given that people really have demonstrated their capacity to exercise personal choice as they did during Delta, I think the same will apply and is actually being applied by people right now as we lead into Christmas.”
Main image via Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie
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