THE NATIONAL PUBLIC Health Emergency Team (NPHE) has recommended to the government that all indoor dining in restaurants and pubs in Dublin should stop following a rise in cases in the capital.

It is understood that following its meeting this morning NPHET advised that the government implement Level 3 restrictions in Dublin. It will be up to the government tomorrow to decide what level of additional restrictions on gatherings contained within Level 3 should be implemented.

Government sources expect Cabinet will agree to implement this recommendation.

Under Level 3 of the plan, “additional restrictions” can be applied to indoor dining, though it does not provide any detail on what those restrictions might be. 

CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said this evening that he is “shocked” by the decision of NPHET to issue this recommendation that all indoor dining close in Dublin for the next few weeks.

“Currently, controlled and regulated environments like restaurants are not the problem – households are,” he said.

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Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Cummins said this move could see thousands of workers back on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

“It absolutely doesn’t make any sense. Face up to the fact that we have problems with households spreading the virus and deal with that.”

- With reporting by Cónal Thomas.