INDOOR dining in Ireland is expected to return sometime between July 19 and July 26 after Cabinet signed off on plans to fully reopen hospitality.
Following a meeting with the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) on Monday evening, Government decided to press ahead with the 'vaccine pass' system.
This will ensure that, for the time being, only those who have been fully vaccinated, or anyone who has recovered from Covid-19 in the last nine months, will be able to dine indoors.
But plans are in place to set up antigen and PCR testing facilities to allow non-vaccinated individuals entry to indoor dining areas, despite NPHET opposition. Though these plans won't be put into motion immediately.
Legislation will be put before the Dáil in the next few days and is expected to pass sometime next week.
The move will see around 180,000 hospitality workers get back to full-time employment, in a huge boost to the sector, which has see-saw'd between partial and full closures since the pandemic began.
It's also understood that members of staff who are not vaccinated will be exempt from needing a vaccine pass.
These vaccine passes, or Covid certificates, are set to be delivered to fully vaccinated individuals around the country over the coming days.
Once hospitality is reopened and everything is considered to be safe, antigen testing systems will be set up to allow non-vaccinated individuals entry to indoor dining areas, though this isn't expected to happen for a few weeks at least.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin clarified that the reopening of indoor hospitality in cafés, restaurants and pubs will be done with "caution".
