Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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1468. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons allowed to attend official meetings of sporting organisations under current restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33484/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, on 29 June, Government announced the next phase of reopening the economy and society in line with Recovery and Resilience: The Path Ahead.

While significant progress is being made in relation to the roll-out of our vaccination programme and the position had been broadly stable over the earlier part of June, 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. For this reason, 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.

At present organised indoor events are not permitted. Indoor meetings for work purposes must take place under the guidance of the Work Safely Protocol which can be found online enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Work-Safely-Protocol.pdf

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.