Paul McAuliffe
Question:831. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health if musical accompaniment is permitted during the webcasting of religious services at level 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5735/21]
View answerWednesday, 3 February 2021
Questions (831, 914)
Seán Sherlock
Question:914. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health if he will address a matter raised in correspondence (details supplied). [6026/21]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 831 and 914 together.
As the Deputies are aware, Ireland is now at level 5 of the Government's medium-term Plan Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19, which sets out Ireland's approach to managing and living with COVID-19.
The Plan aims to allow society and businesses to operate as normally as possible, while protecting our key priorities of supporting and maintaining health and social care services, keeping education and childcare services open and protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities.
As I'm sure the Deputies can appreciate, COVID-19 spreads when individuals and groups come into close contact with one another, enabling the virus to move from one person to another. COVID-19 is infectious in a person with no symptoms, or for the period of time before they develop symptoms. The various limits at all levels in the Government's Plan are all designed to reduce the number of households mixing with each other and cut down the virus’s chances of spreading into more homes. It seeks to balance the risks of different types of gatherings against the desire to allow normal activities to proceed in so far as possible. The public health advice relating to Covid-19 is kept under continuing review by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), by my Department and by the Government . The measures in place and the public health advice have been adapted to the changing circumstances and this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.
At Level 5, Religious services can be carried out online. Guidance for religious services can be found at:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/7ba40-guidance-for-religious-services/. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has also produced guidance on Religious Services and it is available at:
https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/guidance/religioussettingsguidance/COVID_religious%20settings.pdf.
At level 5, up to 6 guests, including children of all ages, can attend a wedding ceremony and reception, irrespective of the venue. This 6 does not include the persons getting married or persons attending in a professional capacity. Guests are permitted to travel to attend the wedding and a minister of religion or priest is permitted to travel to conduct wedding services. Details of the public health measures currently in place for weddings can be found at:- https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2dc71-level-5/#weddings. With regard to domestic travel at Level 5, people are required to stay at home except for travel for work, education or other essential purposes. Details of public health measures in place for domestic travel including essential purposes can be found at: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2dc71-level-5/#travel-restrictions.
You may also wish to note that Fáilte Ireland has provided guidelines for the hospitality industry which includes guidance on weddings and is available at: - https://failtecdn.azureedge.net/failteireland/Guidelines-for-Re-opening-Hotels-and-Guesthouses.pdf/