Announcement on delayed reopening 'makes no sense' says Boxer
The former Athlone TD and Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said the delay to the country's reopening which was announced earlier this afternoon "makes no sense" and is "not a proper plan".
Reacting to the Taoiseach's announcement at lunchtime, Boxer took to social media where he said the Government's decision was "not a proper plan to deal with reopening society and at the same time, handle the new Delta variant of Covid."
The expected return of indoor service in pubs and eateries on July 5 has been put on hold. A new reopening plan that would limit indoor hospitality service to those who are vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 is now expected to be announced by July 19.
"We are expecting our young people, who are keeping the hospitality industry ticking over, to work indoors while unvaccinated – that makes no sense at all," said 'Boxer'.
He said the Government seemed to have little regard for the younger generation, and that this could also be seen in its approach to the housing issue.
"We were supposed to have our third level students return to college in September but we have no proper emergency plan in place to make sure they are fully vaccinated before they go back.
"We must start vaccinating everyone in their 20s up to their 30s immediately, and if that means we have to keep our vaccination centres open longer to do so, then let's do it.
"If we need to pay staff to stay longer, or do shift work at the vaccination centres, I don't see why we can't do this.
"This remains a national emergency and there should be no problem, particularly in summer time, in keeping our vaccination centres opening until 10pm at night, seven days a week," he commented.
"The staff at these centres have been top notch - let's pay them more to keep the centres open longer.
"We can keep polling stations open until 10pm at night but we can't do it for our vaccination centres – keeping the economy half-closed is costing us an awful lot more than extending the hours of our vaccination centres.
"We're well able to spend millions on a by-elections, yet we seem content to sit back and let the economy remain in limbo for another few weeks.
"Let's make a big push now to end this for once and for all. Let's show some imagination and let’s get our young people vaccinated now – it's the only solution," he concluded.
Meanwhile, Thyme restaurant in Athlone confirmed that as a result of today's announcement its planned reopening on July 7 cannot go ahead.
"At this point there is no clear date set to re-open" said proprietor John Coffey.
"We must apologise to any of our customers that had made bookings with us. We are as disappointed as you that we cannot fulfil them," he added.