List of essential service providers under new public health guidelines

1. Agriculture and Fishing
2. Manufacturing
3. Repair and installation of Machinery and Equipment
4. Electricity, Gas and Water
5. Construction
6. Wholesale and Retail Trade
7. Transport Storage and Communication
8. Accommodation and Food Services

9. Information and Communications
10. Financial and legal activities
11. Professional, Scientific and Technical activities
12. Rental and Leasing Activities
13. Administrative and Support Services
14. Public Administration and Defence
15. Human health and social work activities
16. Community/Voluntary Services

Please stay at home until 1 February, except for the following situations:

to travel to and from work, or for purposes of work, only where the work is an essential health, social care or other essential service and cannot be done from home
to shop for essential food, beverage and household goods or collect a meal
to attend medical appointments and collect medicines and other health products
for vital family reasons, such as providing care to children, elderly or vulnerable people
to take brief individual physical exercise within 5 kilometres of your home, which may include other members of your household, as long as you adhere to strict 2 metre physical distancing
for farming purposes

As stated in previous guidance, all employees should work remotely from home if at all possible.

If you are not engaged in the provision of essential services, then you are not permitted to travel to and from work until 1 February 2021.

There will be a grace period until 6pm on Friday, 8 January for people who need to make necessary arrangements to wind down their activities in an orderly way. This should however be done in a way that minimises travel and personal interaction as much as possible.

In exceptional circumstances, it is accepted that some extra time will be needed for a wind down of activity, or necessary for a site to continue to operate at a reduced level of activity, for example in complex manufacturing processes or very large construction projects.

Services provided in the following areas are considered to be essential:

Agriculture and Fishing

farmers
farm labourers
farm relief service workers
others involved directly or indirectly in crop and animal production and related activities (including veterinary services), and workers involved in fishing

Manufacturing

the manufacture of food and beverage products
the manufacture of prepared animal feeds
the manufacture of work-wear apparel or footwear
the manufacture of pulp, paper and paperboard and wood
the printing and reproduction of newspapers and other media services
the manufacturing of coke and refined petroleum products
the manufacturing of alumina; chemicals and chemical products
the manufacture of pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
the manufacture of products necessary for the supply chain of essential services; computer, electronic and optical products including semi-conductors; electrical equipment, machinery and other equipment (including agricultural and forestry machinery); medical devices; and medical and dental equipment and supplies

Repair and installation of Machinery and Equipment

the supply, repair and installation of machinery and equipment and industrial machinery and equipment for essential services

Electricity, Gas and Water

electric power generation, transmission and distribution
extraction and distribution of gas
water collection, treatment and supply
sewerage; waste collection, remediation activities and other waste management treatment and disposal activities

Construction

essential health and related projects relevant to preventing, limiting, minimising or slowing the spread of COVID-19
social housing projects, including voids, designated as essential sites by Local Authorities based on set criteria
housing adaptation grants where the homeowner is agreeable to adaptions being undertaken in their home
repair, maintenance and construction of critical road, rail and utility infrastructure
education facilities sites designated as essential by Department of Education
supply and delivery of essential or emergency maintenance and repair services to businesses and places of residence (including electrical, gas, plumbing, glazing and roofing services) on an emergency call-out basis.
certain large construction projects in the exporting / FDI sector based on set criteria

Wholesale and Retail Trade

retail services in accordance with the separate “Updated Essential Retail Outlets” list
wholesale and distribution services necessary for the sale of food, beverages, fuel, medicines, medical products and devices and essential household products; takeaways and food delivery services

Transport Storage and Communication

land transport (for example, bus, rail and taxi services)
road, rail, sea and air freight
sea and air passenger services; ports and airports
warehousing and support activities for transportation including cargo-handling
postal and courier activities
network control and critical maintenance (including roads)
safety related functions

Accommodation and Food Services

hotels or similar providing essential accommodation (including homeless, direct provision and related services)
food and beverage service activities in accordance with the separate essential retail outlets list or for supply to a business engaged in an essential service

Information and Communications

the publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals as well as video, television programme production, sound recording, radio and television broadcasting; wired and satellite and telecommunications activities; internet and cloud providers; data centres and related services

Financial and legal activities

banking and financial services (including banks, credit unions and post offices)
accountancy, legal and insurance services necessary to support essential services and vulnerable people

Professional, Scientific and Technical activities

engineering, technical testing activities and analysis
scientific research and development activities
regulation, inspection and certification services necessary to support essential services

Rental and Leasing Activities

rental and lease of cars
light motor vehicles and trucks necessary to support the provision of essential services

Administrative and Support Services

Where necessary to support other essential services:

employment placement and human resources associated with the recruitment and deployment of workers
security activities to assist in the delivery of essential services and the securing of premises closed to the public
cleaning of buildings and industrial cleaning activities; business support activities which are necessary to support essential services included on this list; payroll and payment services necessary for the operation of businesses; data processing, hosting and related activities

Public Administration and Defence

Public administration activities necessary to support essential services and provision of social protection benefits (including Civil Service and Local Government)
An Garda Siochana, Garda Staff and the Garda Reserve
public order, safety, fire service and ambulance activities
the Defence Forces
emergency call answering services
services to ensure administration of justice
Prison services and Child Detention services
cyber-security
regulatory processes and certification required to ensure supply chains, food, medicine and general process safety
operation of botanical gardens, parks, forests and nature reserves
funeral services
religious personnel
office-holders and public representatives

Human health and social work activities

hospital services
paramedical and essential therapy activities
public health activities (including all those deployed to contract tracing and COVID-19 testing services)
laboratory services
drug treatment and addiction services
hospice services
pharmacy services
primary care, general and specialist medical practice activities provided by public and private providers
emergency dental practice activities
blood donation service
residential care activities (including nursing care, mental health and substance abuse, elderly and persons with disabilities, children’s residential services)
homecare home help and other community services
social work and social care activities (including disability services, mental health, child protection and welfare, domestic, sexual and gender based violence, homeless services including outreach)
ambulance/pre-hospital emergency care services
minor injury units
maternity services
health, social work, environmental, food safety regulatory activities
childcare for those providing services to children of essential workers or vulnerable children

Community/Voluntary Services

community and voluntary workers, working in a publicly commissioned service, not otherwise included on the list, deployed to assist in the delivery of essential services
volunteer services operating under the local authority emergency management framework in accordance with public health guidance