Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I will start with some questions for Mr. Cribben of the Vintners Federation of Ireland. On the 2 m or 1 m distancing requirement in pubs, the World Health Organisation's special envoy on Covid-19, Dr. David Nabarro, has made very clear that 2 m is very safe and much safer than 1 m as it protects people from 99% of droplets. The advice on pubs changed in recent weeks when the 2 m distancing requirement to be applied across the board was changed to 1 m provided people are only on the premises for 90 minutes. I am interested to hear what role the Vintners Federation of Ireland played in this change and if it had any medical or scientific evidence to back it up? What role did lobbying by the VFI play in that decision? What interactions did it have with the Government on the issue?