Restaurateurs and publicans across Ireland have been reacting to the latest government guidelines that will require food businesses to keep a record of all individual food orders for a 28-day period.
Dubbing the new government guidelines ‘absolute madness’, well known Galway business owner JP McMahon questioned why it’s necessary in the grand scheme of things.
‘Why do the Irish government want us to keep records of what people are eating and drinking? What has this got to do with #Covid_19? Contract tracing, yes. Recording what people eat and drink, no. We are at breaking point. Absolute madness.’
McMahon later added that the guidelines are the ‘equivalent of punishing innocent people for the crimes others commit’. ‘If this is about pubs breaking the law, then call it what it is’, he said. ‘Don’t make up this stupid, lazy, ignorant regulation that hampers us.’
Why do the Irish government want us to keep records of what people are eating and drinking? What has this got to do with #Covid_19? Contract tracing, yes. Recording what people eat and drink, no. We are at breaking point. Absolute madness.
— Dr. Jp McMahon (@mistereatgalway) September 3, 2020
Several others responded to McMahon’s comments with many agreeing that the guidelines are ‘madness’, pointing out that this will cause unnecessary paperwork for places that are already short-staffed and struggling.
Also commenting on the new regulations, the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) said that they are ‘over the top’, while Councillor Ollie Crowe described them as ridiculous. According to him:
‘Businesses have enough challenges currently without this red tape nonsense. Government needs to take action TODAY and rein this in.’
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