The Restaurants Association of Ireland has said it is devastated and "hugely disappointed" about expected Covid-19 restrictions being reimposed on the sector before the New Year.
Adrian Cummins, the CEO of the Restaurants Association, said the hospitality industry "is being scapegoated again" by indications that restrictions could come into force shortly after Christmas.
Mr Cummins also called for immediate dialogue with the Government and the hospitality industry and clarity for businesses.
"This is hugely soul destroying for our industry. Hospitality is being scapegoated. Our engagement shows that NPHET views hospitality in a different way to everybody else," he stated.
He said the news that hospitality may not be allowed to stay open as planned until early January "came as a total shock" to the industry and is "devastating for businesses".
"We feel that we're being scapegoated again, considering we were only open for two weeks and there have been zero Covid outbreaks within hospitality the last 14 days," Mr Cummings said on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne.
"And we've pointed out on numerous occasions that if you close our industry down you will increase house parties, and especially on New Year's Eve," he added.
He said the average business had €20-30,000 worth of stock in for the Christmas and New Year period.
Mr Cummins called for a decision to be made quickly so that businesses can plan.
The industry is "on a knife edge", Mr Cummins said, adding that many customers are making cancellations already for dates between December 28 and 31.
Mark McGowan, the president of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said the expected new restrictions came as "a slap in the face" to the sector.
He said the industry is well-versed to tackle Covid-19 and has put additional practices in place to ensure a controlled environment is in place by highly-controlled staff.
The future is in doubt for many in the sector, he said, and he also expressed concern about the long-term damage to the industry and the impact on the skillset of employees.
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The Government is likely to look at bringing forward the tightening of restrictions to 28, 29 or 30 December.
Some restrictions have been relaxed from today and were originally to continue until 6 January.
Employers' group Ibec said the rising Covid-19 cases require "a proportionate and considered response" from Government, but said it needs to take a few days to engage with businesses before making any final decisions.
Ibec's chief executive Danny McCoy said it is clear from what is happening across Europe that the outbreak is very serious and "we need to get it under control" to avoid further restrictions in 2021.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, he said that "what we do now is to ensure the economy is functioning as well as possible for most of 2021".
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He said there is a disproportionate impact on the hospitality sector and that people in the supply chain will have to factor in that restrictions are coming.
Mr McCoy said that for those who livelihoods are being really stretched, there is little compensation for the financial uncertainty and stress "but the hope is that the economy bounces back next year if we get this right and proportionate now" and helps business to survive.
Hammer blow for hotel sector
Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, President of the Irish Hotels Federation, has described the expected curtailment of more relaxed restrictions over the Christmas period as a hammer blow for the sector.
She said it amounted to a seismic shift in the original plans and it would result in upheaval not just for prospective guests, but also for hotel staff.
"This will be the fourth time this year that someone will be asked not to come back to work and that's very hard to take when you've been making so many efforts to make safe environments. Public health has always been our number one," she said.
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Ms Fitzgerald Kane rejected suggestions that hospitality settings were contributing to the spread of the virus.
"The latest report last week showed one case in a hotel. It's one more than we'd like to have, but homes are accounting for 70% and we're less than one tenth of 1%," she stated.
She could not confirm if hotels would refund guests that had booked for the first week in January, if the new measures are introduced.
"We have to wait and see if it's definitely going to come into effect. And it depends on what lead-in we have - sometimes the lead-in periods have been as short as six or 12 hours," she said.
The IHF president said hotels had been seeing a lot of interest in hotel vouchers from the domestic market and she sounded an optimistic note for 2021.
"This sends a shockwave through, but no doubt the time will come and there are brighter days ahead," she added.
Meanwhile, Retail Excellence has said that allowing non-essential retailers to stay open in the event of stricter restrictions over the festive period was the "sensible approach".
Duncan Graham, Managing Director of Retail Excellence, said the retail industry had coped "extraordinarily well" with Christmas shopping demand.
It was encouraging that Tánaiste Leo Varadkar indicated yesterday that non-essential retail would remain open in the event of tougher restrictions being reimposed in the coming days, Mr Graham stated.
"Retail has proven to be a safe space for both employees and shoppers so far, and our members are reporting widespread compliance with safety guidelines," he said.
But he also said that coffee shops should be classified as retail outlets, and not be subject to closure in the event of tougher restrictions.
"Coffee shops are safe spaces and are an integral part of the shopping experience. They should be allowed to remain open even if harsher restrictions are reimposed," Mr Graham said.
Pubs stuck in cruel limbo – VFI
The Vintners' Federation of Ireland has said pubs are at the mercy of Government and NPHET decision making.
Padraig Cribben, VFI Chief Executive, said the latest announcement caps an "utterly disastrous" year for the pub sector.
"While the vast majority of our members never got to reopen in early December, pubs serving food were given a chance to trade into next year but now that’s been snatched from them.
"It’s as clear as day that the sector needs a concise explanation - a roadmap - from Government and NPHET detailing under what conditions all pubs will be allowed reopen.
"The prolonged uncertainty has placed our members in the cruellest of limbos where there is zero clarity from decision makers about the trade’s future," he said.
