Fáilte Ireland has said the customer time-slots for pubs reopening at the end of the month are “for all intents and purposes” two hours long.

The tourism body finalised its guidelines for reopening last night after talks with health officials and industry bodies.

Under the guidelines, customers would be allowed 105 minutes of ‘seating time’ per visit, with 15 minutes between bookings to clean tables and allow customers to enter and leave.

File photo of a pint poured in Kehoes bar, 15-03-2003. Image: Haydn West/PA Archive/PA Images

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre had originally called for visits to be limited to 90 minutes and on Newstalk Breakfast, spokesperson Tara Kerry said Fáilte Ireland pushed for a minimum of two hours.

“The Department came back to us with 105 minutes,” she said. “It is, for all intents and purposes, two hours.

“It is 105 minutes for somebody sitting at a table but, importantly and to instil confidence in the consumer, there is a 15-minute turnaround so there is an avoidance of having an overlap and people standing in each other’s company.”

Pubs must also serve up a ‘substantial meal’ costing no less than €9 and employ a dedicated staff member to ensure social distancing is being observed.

People from different households sitting at the same table must observe physical distancing of one-metre, while there should be two metres between tables of people from different homes.

Ms Kerry said a plan to force pubs to take contact details of all customers has also been scaled back.

“It has now been agreed that businesses only need to take one person’s details on the table,” she said.

“That could be the lead, it could be the person paying the bill, it could be the person who made the booking.

“They will then be aware of everybody else in the party and if contact tracing is required, the business will have that one person they can hand over to the HSE or the relevant body to allow for that contact tracing.

“Those details only need to be retained now for a month.”

A hairdressing salon in Frankfurt's Westend district, 04-05-2020. Image: Arne Dedert/dpa

Meanwhile, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met this morning to discuss the further lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

It is expected that new guidelines for weddings will be issued and hairdressers and barbers will be allowed to open at the end of the month.

Infectious Diseases specialist Professor Sam McConkey said he thinks they should get the go ahead.

“I think the hairdressers and barbers is one possible way forward,” he said.

“I am sure there a lot of people pent up that need their hair done. I am sure there are a lot of people pent up that need their hair doe and that is an important priority for a lot of folk.

“I am sure there will be queues and late nights and bookings and everything.

“So, I think that could be done safely and that is certainly on the menu of options of how we could relax our restrictions a bit further.

Pre-booking will be encouraged as much as possible when pubs that serve food reopen on June 29th.