S.I. No. 535/2020 - Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 8) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 24th November, 2020.

I, STEPHEN DONNELLY, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 5 and 31A (inserted by section 10 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1 of 2020)) of the Health Act 1947 (No. 28 of 1947) and -

(a) having regard to the immediate, exceptional and manifest risk posed to human life and public health by the spread of Covid-19 and to the matters specified in subsection (2) of section 31A, and

(b) having consulted with the Minister for Transport, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Justice, and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media,

hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 8) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 22nd day of November 2020.

2. The Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 8) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 448 of 2020 ) are amended -

(a) in Regulation 6, by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (3):

“(4) Paragraph (1) is a penal provision for the purposes of section 31A of the Act of 1947.”,

(b) by the insertion of the following Regulation after Regulation 7:

“Restriction on persons attending events in dwellings

7A. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person shall not without reasonable excuse attend an event to be held for social or recreational reasons in a dwelling in a relevant geographical location other than where the event is organised in accordance with Regulation 6(2).

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person attending an event referred to in that paragraph where the person is –

(a) part of the same household as the person organising the event, or

(b) part of a paired household in respect of the person organising the event.

(3) Paragraph (1) is a penal provision for the purposes of section 31A of the Act of 1947.”,

(c) in Regulation 13, by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (2):

“(2) A specified person shall, in relation to a relevant premises -

(a) make a record of the time and date that each relevant guest is permitted, or otherwise granted, access to the relevant premises, and the guest’s name and telephone number, and

(b) not permit food or beverages to be served, or to continue to be served, to a person permitted or otherwise granted, access to the premises unless the food or beverages are consumed whilst such person is seated at a table.”, and

(d) in Part 2 of the Schedule, at paragraph 15, by the deletion of subparagraph (r).

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

21 November, 2020.

STEPHEN DONNELLY,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 8) Regulations ( S.I. No. 448 of 2020 ) to provide for additional penal provisions in respect of organising an event in a private dwelling and attending an event in a private dwelling, to correct an omission in respect of table service only in relevant premises permitted to serve intoxicating liquor and for a technical amendment to Part 2 of the Schedule.