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Continuing and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has acknowledged that there was a lack of clarity regarding the new law requiring restaurants and pubs that serve food to record all individual orders and keep the information for 28 days.
Speaking at Newstalk Breakfast, Mr. Harris said that people’s meal records would be maintained through receipts and that it was important that such measures be communicated to interested parties.
The minister was critical of the rhetoric of some politicians.
“Using loaded language has definitely gone too far, we have seen strange terms with peculiar historical connotations. I think the people of the Oireachta should take into account their language.
“I think there has been a lack of clarity in relation to this.
“The government doesn’t care if you had a cup of coffee or a dessert or if you went for the banoffee, or as a bartender asked me last night if you opted for the garlic sauce or the pepper sauce.
“I want to go back to a situation where we can go back to where we need to go back, where we try to find a way to live together with the virus, where we actually reopen more businesses.
“Where we open our pubs. The Government is working on a new national plan to live with this virus in the coming months.”
The minister said the new law was a temporary measure to allow the provisions that were already in effect to be enforced, “but I think it is important that our state agencies communicate with interested parties.”
Harris said he agreed with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar “we should find a way to open pubs.
“I totally agree with Leo on this, obviously we have to do it in a safe way with very strict restrictions and at the right time.”
“When you look across the EU now, there are many countries that are seeing a lower prevalence of the virus that are managing to open bars.”
Harris said he was concerned about people’s well-being.
“We need to get to a point where we trust each other, we trust companies, we trust people and individual responsibility, and the state continues to do its part with testing and tracking.”
Labor leader Alan Kelly has asked the data commissioner to take a closer look at the new law.
It was “totally and absolutely crazy,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, saying he was concerned that the Cabinet had approved the new rule.
The government needs to keep the public on board, this was “one step too far.”
He said it was absurd to have to keep records for 28 days.
“When was food consumption linked to public health measures?” I ask.
The new law was simply “too draconian,” he said. There were already enough measures to deal with publicans who broke the regulations.
Mr. Kelly said that the government had “stepped out of the reserve” and gone too far and that they were going to face public backlash.
Earlier in Morning Ireland, Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) said the heart of the problem was how the new measure had been communicated to the industry and the lack of consultation.
“This should have been communicated after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday when it was signed.
“There was no announcement on August 18 about the new regulations for six people at a table, hand sanitizers. This came out of nowhere.”
Cummins said restaurant owners want to adhere to public health councils in Ireland’s best interest, but there was a lot of fear in the industry and the new law was an additional regulatory burden.
Further clarification is needed whether the record should show that a person ate or if a table ate with alcoholic beverages, he said.
The Minister of State for the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Damien English, has said that the new law was not about what a person ate, it was proof that they did eat.
English told Prime Time on RTÉ television that the measure was to allow public health teams and the Gardaí to monitor compliance with Covid regulations.
He acknowledged that the new rules would mean “more trouble” and “more paperwork.”
“There are two reasons here, one of which is the advice is to record the time people came in, who they are and a contact number.
“Besides that, now you also have to keep the proof of purchase of food and that is for two reasons because the regulations say that there must be food purchase.
“This is for the health authorities, public health teams and the Gardaí to control compliance with the regulations.
“The regulations are there to protect us all, but also to reopen businesses.
“I accept that it is more complicated, it is more paperwork. It’s difficult as it is, but if it helps us reopen the pubs, that’s what we have to do. ”
The new regulation was there to protect people, the minister said, to help reopen businesses and to “ensure a level playing field.”
Most companies would record this information anyway, he added.
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