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Two pubs in Dublin have told their patrons that they will no longer have to consume a meal on their premises to get a drink served.
The Oscars Café Bar in Smithfield and The Camden on Camden Street will donate all or most of the € 9 cost of a “substantial meal” to charity.
Covid-19 restrictions introduced earlier this year state that people cannot drink in a bar unless they buy a meal with a minimum value of € 9.
The relevant legislation is Standard Instrument (SI) 352/2020 which temporarily modifies the Health Law of 1947.
Earlier this month, the government announced that only pubs where food is cooked on the premises can reopen.
Both bars said they were taking the initiative due to the amount of food being wasted and customers pay for the meals but do not eat them.
The Oscars Café Bar now offers regulars the opportunity to stop eating instead of receiving unwanted food.
The cost of producing the food (€ 4) will in turn be donated to a local charity for the homeless.
Oscars Bar owner Ronan Flood said they had 380 tapas on Friday night and only eight guests chose to buy a discontinued meal.
He explained: “What we experienced this past weekend was that guests were mostly arriving later in the evening after having dinner at another venue.
“It is mainly a problem where people have approached us and had eaten in another restaurant and came to us just for a drink.
“We comply with all regulations in all respects, so we require all guests to order a meal to receive an alcoholic beverage. As some of the guests had already eaten, the perfectly good food was left untouched and went to the trash can. “
Mr. Flood said they were not trying to circumvent the law or find a way around it.
“We are just trying to exercise common sense to avoid unnecessary food waste, particularly when we can all see the huge homeless problem that exists in Dublin right now.”
On their Instagram page, Camden management said they had been “shocked by the amount of good food that ended up in waste” since the bar reopened last Friday.
“For our customers to be able to enjoy some beverages according to current guidelines, a lot of good food remains intact and ends up in our container on a daily basis,” they stated.
They promised to donate the purchase of a € 9 meal to Temple Street Foundation Children’s Charity Ireland. All funds raised will be donated on January 4, 2021.
The Irish Times is awaiting a response from the Department of Health.
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