Tanaiste Varadkar has said he’s not sure about the ‘practical enforceability’ of guidelines for ventilation in pubs and indoor workplaces.
Having originally said to the Oireachtas Enterprise Trade and Employment Committee that he was “not sure that there is any legal standards on ventilation” for indoor restaurants and pubs, he later pointed to general pre-Covid rules around basic ventilation, while raising doubts over them.
He was questioned by People Before Profit Employment Rights spokesperson, Paul Murphy TD, about the role ventilation could play in making indoor dining safe to reopen.
People Before Profit have argued that proper standards of ventilation could help make indoor workplaces safer to reopen. PBP Employment Rights spokesperson Paul Murphy TD said:
“We know Covid is airborne, and that’s what makes outdoor dining and activity where there is good airflow so much safer than indoors.
However, we also know proper ventilation can go a long way to improving the safety of indoor workplaces.
Yet over a year into this crisis, the government has done very little to actually improve ventilation, and enforce proper standards.
It seemed the Tanaiste himself didn’t even know what was going on with ventilation standards, contradicting himself and making it up as he went along.
The reality is that while they have provided guidelines and encouragement, none of these are actually enforceable.
Even in publicly funded institutions like schools, there has been very little actual investment in ventilation.
Proper investment in ventilation and legal enforcement of these standards is vital if indoor dining and other workplaces are to be made safe enough to reopen.”
