Publication
Statement on COVID-19 public health measures - 3 December 2021
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
The COVID-19 situation in Ireland remains of concern and is delicately balanced and Ireland remains vulnerable to a further deterioration in the disease profile depending on a number of factors, including levels of social contact in the coming weeks and over the festive period, adherence to basic public health protective measures and levels of immunity across the population, and the potential impact of the recently identified Omicron variant which remains uncertain at present.
The government is acutely aware of the impact that new measures will have on sectors such as hospitality, the night-time economy, and the arts and entertainment sectors.
While hospitalisations and ICU admissions appear to have stabilised at a high level over recent days, this is not yet an established trend and the current high level of COVID-19 continues to have a significant and sustained impact across all aspects of the health service, including public health, testing and tracing services, general practice, as well as the broader primary care services and the acute hospital system, and poses a risk to the health system, particularly over the Winter period.
Following public health advice, the following measures will be introduced with effect from 7 December and remain in place until 9 January:
Strict social distancing is required in all bars and restaurants, including hotels (reverting to pre-22 October measures), including:
The government recognises that these decisions, coming in addition to those of 16th November, will have a particular impact on sectors such as hospitality, the night time economy, and the arts and entertainment sectors.
In addition to existing economy-wide schemes, including the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which will remain in place at current rates of payment and qualification criteria, the Minister for Finance is introducing a new scheme for businesses in the hospitality sector that are subject to restrictions on operating.
This will adjust the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) to support businesses whose trade is significantly impacted and which are subject to regulatory restrictions on operating. This will involve a weekly payment of payment of 12% of turnover for qualifying businesses. Further details will be provided by the Department of Finance.
There will also be a further extension of the current targeted commercial rates waiver for the first quarter of 2022. This will be put in place at an additional cost of approximately €62.3 million.
The government is also making additional funding of €25 million, in addition to the allocation of €25 million already provided for in Budget 2022, to support the live entertainment sector.
The government has also agreed to a limited reopening of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for workers who are temporarily laid off due to the impact of these public health restrictions. There will be a number of refinements to the scheme design to target it more effectively. Further details will be made available by the Department of Social Protection.
The government also noted the strong public health advice is that visits to private homes over the coming weeks:
In noting this advice, the government acknowledged that in assessing how to apply flexibility, households will likely have regard to the re-formation of family households over the Christmas period and those who belong to household support bubbles.
In particular, it is recognised there are specific days and dates (25, 26 and 31 December) in the calendar which are important social and cultural occasions where families will likely choose to come together in larger household numbers.
The public health advice is that the future trajectory remains uncertain. The three steps everyone can take to help reduce the spread of the virus are:
1. Get vaccinated and get your booster when you are called.
2. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, get a PCR test, self-isolate until you get your result and then follow the public health advice.
3. In every situation, reduce your risk of catching / transmitting COVID-19 over the coming weeks by: