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

I thank Deputy Nash. I think he is spot on. I met with representatives of the retail industry yesterday alongside the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English. We outlined the rules and received the industry's assurance that it would abide not only by the letter but by the spirit of the rules If a supermarket or other store is allowed to open that is because it sells essential products like groceries or work wear. Shops are not allowed to open so they can sell other products. For example, toyshops are closed at the moment. It would be very unfair if other shops that do not sell toys were suddenly to start selling toys. It would be a bit like toyshops reopening, selling sliced pans and claiming they were not just toyshops but also grocers. We got a commitment from the retail industry that shops would not take advantage of the situation by selling products that are not part of their normal sales and that department stores would cordon off the areas where they sell clothes, for example. We will enforce this if we have to. Guidance from the National Standards Authority of Ireland will be issued today.

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