The Restaurants Association of Ireland is seeking an urgent meeting with the Government over proposals to close the hospitality sector after Christmas.
The Cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to consider the move after NPHET advised that restaurants and pubs serving food should be shut before New Year's Eve.
The Government is expected to choose December 30th as the closure date while at the same time restricting home visits to one other household.
However, travel between counties will likely be allowed to continue until January 6th.
The CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland said the group is calling for an "urgent meeting" with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to discuss the impact of a "third national hospitality industry lockdown".
He added that representative body for restaurants, cafés and gastropubs is seeking "the immediate establishment" of a hospitality taskforce.
The Restaurants Association believes 150,000 employees will be impacted by the new restrictions, with workers facing "an uncertain future heading into 2021".
It called for immediate clarity from Government on when they will close and for how long.
🚨Statement
Restaurants Association of Ireland is calling for urgent meeting with Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD & Tanaiste @LeoVaradkar to discuss the impact of a 3rd National Hospitality industry lockdown & we are calling for the immediate establishment of a Hospitality Taskforce— Adrian Cummins 🇮🇪🇪🇺 (@adriancummins) December 19, 2020
It comes after Labour leader Alan Kelly called for the Cabinet to meet today, rather than on Tuesday, to give people certainty about the next round of COVID-19 restrictions.
Representatives from the hospitality trade said the news of a further lockdown was a shock for employees and "a slap in the face" for those in the industry.
One Cork restaurateur says any further shutdown of hospitality would be devastating for the sector.
Co-owner of the Cornerstore and Coqbull Restaurants in Cork, Mike Ryan, says the indecision is frustrating.
He said: "Are we going into level three plus, or are restaurants going into a full level five lockdown?
"Are we down to takeaway only, are we outside with 15 people?
"This is a problem, businesses need to be able to plan ahead, we can't plan, we're living day to day and that's no good for the mental health of ourselves, of our staff."
