A delay to the opening of indoor dining is "not inevitable" according to the Tánaiste.
NPHET will meet today to give advice to government on the spread of the Delta variant.
While Ministers are hopeful of being given advice from NIAC on the use of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in under 50s.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says decisions on re-opening tomorrow will be cautious:
"We'll have to see all of the advice, the presentations today and tomorrow and make a decision."
"But I will say to everyone, we want to avoid having to go backwards."
"We want to avoid a situation whereby it's start stop."
He says Cabinet prefers a "slow, cautious, methodical approach," over a "start, stop" one.
Varadkar says he hopes NIAC will have advice for government on vaccinations by tomorrow.
Definitely a sense from Govt that while NPHET advice will be given today, NIAC advice isn’t as set in stone to be delivered
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) June 28, 2021
We Don't Want "Back-Sliding"
Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue says they don’t want restaurants to open and then have to shut again.
"What's really important, and this has been the hallmark of the re-opening, is that as we do things there's no back-sliding."