Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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378. To ask the Minister for Health if the classification of services into categories of essential and non-essential work is still being implemented as the restrictions are eased from level 5; the legal basis for such classification, and the place that the categories of what work counts as essential and non-essential can be found. [28529/21]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Health if the permission for persons to attend a wedding in a professional capacity, in the course of their employment or in fulfilment of a contract for services, in addition to the number allowed for guests as outlined in section 9(3)(b) of Statutory Instrument No. 217 of 2021, also known as the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 2) Regulations 2021, include those contracted to perform music or provide entertainment at such events and if these service providers are not included, the legal basis for exclusion of same. [28530/21]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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380. To ask the Minister for Health if the easing of restrictions on 2 June 2021 contain any provisions for music and entertainment to be permitted at social gatherings, weddings or beer gardens. [28531/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 379 and 380 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, 50 guests can currently attend a wedding service (both religious and civil) and 25 guests can attend a wedding celebration or reception. On 29 June, Government announced the next phase of reopening the economy and society in line with Recovery and Resilience: The Path Ahead. While a number of higher risk indoor activities will not recommence as planned on 5 July, pending the implementation of a system to verify vaccination or immunity status, it has been announced that, as an exception, weddings already planned will be allowed to proceed with the planned increase in the number of guests to 50 at the wedding reception with protective measures.

Live music and entertainment are not currently permitted at weddings, restaurants or bars as outlined in the Fáilte Ireland guidelines. These guidelines can be found online: covid19.failteireland.ie/operational-guidelines/

While significant progress is being made in relation to the roll-out of our vaccination programme and the current situation is broadly stable, the prevalence of the more transmissible Delta variant is rapidly increasing in Ireland and this poses a significant risk, in particular to those who are not yet fully vaccinated.

As we further ease public health measures, our approach must continue to be cautious, gradual and phased, with sufficient time between any easing of measures to assess the impact. This will be critical to ensure that our progress in controlling the virus is maintained.

Significant and sustained progress has been made on suppressing the virus over recent months due to the huge effort of people across the country. By working together, we have saved lives and limited the impact of the disease on society in Ireland. To protect the gains of recent months we must continue to practice basic preventative behaviours and to follow public health guidelines.