Halving social distancing measures for pubs and restaurants from two meters to one would still be restrictive, the head of the vintners organisation has said.
Restaurants and cafes can reopen – as well as pubs and bars which operate as restaurants – from June 29.
Tourism group Failte Ireland said it has been told by health officials there could be “certain circumstances” where restaurants are allowed to adhere to a one-meter social distancing rule.
Failte Ireland said the meals sold in such premises must be “of a kind for which it would be reasonable to charge not less than €9”.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has previously said pubs operating as restaurants would not mean people meeting up “for a few pints and having a packet of peanuts”.
The guidelines due to be issued this week state food on offer would “be expected to be served as a main midday or evening meal or as a main course in either such meal”.
But Vintners’ Federation of Ireland chief executive Padraig Cribben said the one-meter rule for pubs could still be restrictive.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: “We welcome the move from two meters to one but it does say that would only be in certain circumstances.
“We have been working with the various government departments in relation to social distancing and we need to flesh out what these circumstances are.
“Going from two meters to one is very important from a capacity point of view but it is still very restrictive.
“We have some independent research done that says even at the one meter, seating capacity would be reduced by 35%. From a viability point of view it is going to be very challenging.”
Mr Cribben said the €9 rule for meals derives from the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1962.
“It is the only piece of legislation that actually has an definition on food so Government and the powers-that-be have latched on to that particular definition,” he said.
“Individual operators who wouldn’t have served food before this will have to go away now and see if they want to go along with it. The 20th of July when all pubs can reopen is only three weeks away after that.”
He said pubs do not have clarity whether the two-metre rule will remain in place when all pubs are allowed to reopen on July 20.
“That has been causing us problems the past few weeks so we want to get clear guidelines on the two-meter issue for pubs as that is only a month away,” he said.
Meanwhile, three further coronavirus deaths were reported on Tuesday, along with 14 more cases of the virus.
This brings the total number of deaths from Covid-19 to 1,709, and the number of cases to 25,334.