Mr. Philip Browne:

We put a stake in the sand in September and said we would look at the environment then. We have since moved that stake out to December. In December we need to see a clear line of sight of when we will get spectators back into our stadiums at provincial level and at the Aviva stadium in 2021. If we cannot see that we will have to take certain actions which will be unpalatable.

On the level for breaking even at Aviva, we would be comfortable with 1 m social distancing which would generate attendance of approximately 18,000. That is not ideal but it would be manageable. With our colleagues in the GAA and FAI, we will try to put together a roadmap of pilots to see how we can move to that. One does not want to do it in a big bang. A capacity of 18,000 would ease our situation. We need to ease the situation for the provinces which are very reliant on gate income and have a huge problem without it which ultimately comes back to the desk of the IRFU, as we have to support the provinces. We can do it and safely but we must take cognisance of the advice given to us by NPHET and the HSE.