There is a warning that nine in ten restaurants will not be able to reopen unless social distancing rules are updated.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) is calling for the two-metre rule to be reduced to one metre, which it says is in line with World Health Organisation guidelines.

It comes amid reports that health officials are set to advise a reduction in the rule for the hospitality sector, provided the infection rate of the virus remains low in the coming weeks.

Officials have asked the Health Protection Surveillance Centre to examine what effect reducing the limit may have.

"Unviable"

This afternoon, RAI Chief Executive Adrian Cummins told Newstalk that anything greater than one metre will prevent the vast majority of food businesses from opening their doors.

“Nine out of ten restaurants won’t be able to reopen on June 29th if a one-metre social distancing rule isn’t introduced,” he said.

“It is not viable and 120,000 restaurant and café workers won’t be able to go back to work.”

Social distancing

WHO guidelines call for physical distancing of “at least one metre;” however, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) advice calls for two metres.

Mr Cummins said anything more than one metre would make a food business unviable – and warned that the current closure is “having a huge impact at the moment on suppliers and on everybody in the food service sector – from the farmers and butchers to the bakers that supply our industry.”

He also called the Temporary Wage Subsidy scheme to be extended and for hospitality VAT to be suspended for a period of time while the industry recovers.

He said commercial rates should also be written off for at least 12 months.