The Tánaiste has said he hopes indoor dining will resume in early July. Leo Varadkar told the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment this morning that the guidelines on outdoor dining and drinking, which will be permitted from 7 June, are currently being drafted.
He said it would be seated only, with six people to a table and tables would probably be a metre apart. He told the committee that there would be no time limits and people will not be required to buy a substantial meal to have a drink in pubs.
Mr Varadkar said he is "very hopeful that we can return to something close to normality by late summer." He said the "vaccination programme is picking up momentum, administering approximately 270,000 vaccines per week.