Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that the Government is targeting Monday, 26 July as the date for reopening indoor hospitality settings.
Mr Varadkar made the comments at a press conference this afternoon, where he said there were "reasons for real concerns and caution" as the Delta variant begins to "surge".
"Now unvaccinated people of all ages are the ones most at risk. The next few weeks will be the most dangerous for them," he said.
Under the Government's plans, fully vaccinated people will be able to go to a pub or restaurant indoors, with 26 July the date targeted for reopen.
Tanaiste @LeoVaradkar says it’s impossible to rule out any
— Mary Regan (@MaryERegan) July 15, 2021
re-imposition of restrictions, if hospitalisations become unmanageable over summer. But says experience elsewhere shows this is unlikely to be the case. Gov is targeting MonJuly 26 for reopening of indoor hospitality pic.twitter.com/DHgCJE3D7g
Earlier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the new legislation on reopening indoor hospitality "flows from" public health advice in terms of prioritising those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.
Asked about Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan's statement that it was safer not to bring children into indoor settings, Mr Martin said the Government made a decision on "balance" that children would be permitted to dine alongside fully vaccinated parents.
"One has to have a balance here in terms of how people operate and how people live their lives. The chief medical officer will advise and Government will make decisions in terms of broader issues that Government has to consider," he added.
The Taoiseach said people can exercise their own judgement.
"In many instances, there won't be any difficulty in terms of children, in my view, accompanying parents in controlled environments," he said.
Mr Martin added that the exception for children was "understandable" due to the circumstances of families.
"We need to trust people too. This is a collective effort as a society to try and deal with an unprecedented global pandemic with many twists and turns."
The Taoiseach said people need to be vigilant as individuals and take the advice of the Chief Medical Officer seriously.
"But I think Government has created a good balance here. We have reopened the economy significantly since the beginning of the year... whilst keeping a check on the numbers, relative to other other economies and societies."
Mr Martin said the Government will also be working on ventilation "over the next while, particularly in terms of schools".
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The Taoiseach said that Ireland is in a "different phase of the pandemic".
He said the Government was worried about the Delta variant of the coronavirus due to its increased transmissibility and because case numbers and hospitalisations are rising.
"I have concerns obviously with the Delta variant. There are risks but Delta is now rising even prior to the reopening of indoor hospitality but it is a substantially different situation to the Christmas period in that the majority of those eligible for vaccination are fully vaccinated."
Mr Martin added that there was also a high number of people with one dose of a vaccine.
He said the advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) was that those who are vaccinated need to have access to activities.
"As we're vaccinating more and more people, the nature to our response to the pandemic will evolve and change.
"But what will not change is the need for basic common sense in terms of how we behave and how we adhere to the guidance and regulations around public health."
The Taoiseach defended the Government's approach to managing the pandemic and the economy.
"We have been criticised as Government more often for being too cautious in our approach since Christmas. relative to Europe, we're probably one of the most cautious countries out there."
"We're not seeing other countries pull back from their earlier reopening phases," he added.
Govt wants to recognise frontline workers - Varadkar
Earlier, the Tánaiste told the Dáil that the Government is committed to recognising the "amazing" work of frontline healthcare workers, but warned that "the pandemic is not over" and this "will become apparent over the next couple of weeks".
Leo Varadkar used his last opportunity to address the house on Covid-19 before the summer recess to warn those who are not fully vaccinated that they "are at very high risk".
He said that Ireland is "entering a new phase" of the pandemic, where the country has "weakened the connection between cases and hospitalisations and deaths" but "we have not broken it".
"Now, unvaccinated people are the most vulnerable", the Tánaiste said. They "are at greater risk than ever before, because this virus is so transmissible".
Mr Varadkar warned that the recent "major surge in cases" is "almost entirely in younger people and people who are not fully vaccinated".
He appealed to them to "avoid socialising indoors", and to avoid non-essential foreign travel.
The Government does want to recognise the work of frontline healthcare workers in a monetary form or with additonal leave, the Tánaiste added, but insisted that "it would be a mistake not to look at this in the round."
"This is not straightforward", he told Denis Naughten of the Regional Group.
Deputy Naughten emphasised the need to "recognise the trojan work of frontline healthcare workers" who had "put their hand into their own pockets" while putting their lives on the line.
"Many of these staff are physically and mentally exhausted" which could have "potentially fatal consequences", he warned.
They need time off to recover "before they break down completely", Mr Naughten said.
The Tánaiste also told the Dáil that the Government has asked NPHET "to review over the next couple of weeks" at how religious ceremonies, including communions and confirmations, might be safely held and to look again at the issue of indoor summer camps.
He said NPHET had been asked to advise the Government on these issues within "the next week or two".
Mr Varadkar noted that an increase in cases among children is very different to previous phases of the pandmic.
