Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In terms of Deputy Doherty's question on pubs, NPHET has not been asked to advise on that. I understand the point the Deputy makes and I think it is a valid one. If we could open pubs with very strict social distancing, that could potentially work. The problem we have seen on a number of occasions is that when people are consuming alcohol, for example in house parties, on the streets or even in restaurants, it is very hard to maintain social distancing. That is a real difficulty. One thing that is fundamental to pubs is that they are ultimately about serving alcohol.

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