The Vintners Federation says it's 'disappointed to see the confusion again' over extending the use of Covid passes.
It says people have made a lot of preparations for being fully opened next weekend.
The use of Covid passes to dine indoors was meant to be scrapped next Friday, but the Government may extend their use due to soaring Covid cases.
VFI Chief Executive, Padraig Cribben says continuing to scan customers for Covid certs won't be easy if it continues but they are willing to make it work:
"It will be difficult, I mean there's nothing easy about it, it's time consuming. If that is the price of getting everything else back to normal we certainly will find a way that it's complied with."
There's been a mixed reaction to a new opinion poll showing a majority of the population believe unvaccinated people should be subjected to continuing restrictions after next Friday.
The poll in The Irish Mail on Sunday showed that 70% would like to see the Covid pass, used to gain access to indoor hospitality, remain in use.
Noel Anderson, chair of the Licensed Vintners Federation says it's unfair to hold back an entire industry because a small portion of the population have not had the vaccine:
"We're extremely worried. If we don't open now, then when? The people who have decided not to get a vaccine the reality is that's their decision, and you're not going to change 300,000 people's minds I don't think. So it would be incredibly unfair to hold back an industry."
Sunil Sharpe, spokesperson for the Give Us The Night Campaign, has urged the Government to consider Antigen testing instead of certs:
"It's very late to spring this on them, especially venues that have been shut for 19-months, and are now being asked to enforce a new system that they've never used before.
"Any plan that's put in place has to be multi-faceted to control the spread of Covid-19 and to keep people safe. To us, the most effective way to control that spread is through testing."
When we asked for the industry to reopen no later than the beginning of Oct, it was for good reason. Imagine even a phased reopening (capacity wise) to build confidence + new best practices over last month? Instead of course it's last min jitters from Gov + hesitancy now kicks in https://t.co/L7pmStJV85
— Give Us The Night (@GiveUsTheNight) October 16, 2021
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to announce the government's final decision on Tuesday.
