Deputy Michael Lowry says that he will support the Government Legislation on Indoor Hospitality.
The Bill, which is due to be published this afternoon, provides for three phases in rollout including Indoor Access for the Vaccinated, Indoor Access for those with recent negative PCR and Indoor Access for those with a negative Rapid Antigen Test.
Phase 1 will be launched next week with no dates yet available for the launch of subsequent phases.
‘I support this Legislation 0n the basis that the Hospitality Sector must be given some relief’ says Deputy Lowry. ‘While I do not consider it to be satisfactory to have a rushed approach, there are some 260,000 workers employed in Hospitality who must be given the opportunity to return to work’ says Deputy Lowry.
‘Public Health and Industry have approved this approach which is a vital factor. It is a well-intentioned, proportional public health measure in less than ideal circumstances.
‘The numbers of people who will be negatively impacted under this Legislation reduces every day with an average of 50,000 people being vaccinated every day. There is also the fact that allowing the vaccinated to be indoors creates additional outdoor dining spaces for those not yet vaccinated, which is the case for a variety of reasons.
‘The so called ‘Wet Pubs’ that are unable to provide outdoor seating will be able to re-open having suffered endless months of closure.
‘The alternative at this point is to keep everything as it stands at this time or to have a free for all and risk yet another lockdown
‘I have concerns for unvaccinated indoor workers who may be exposed to greater risk. I support the suggestion that the pharmacy network prioritise unvaccinated indoor hospitality workers and I believe that this is something that must be explored in conjunction with this Legislation’ says Deputy Lowry.