Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Face Coverings in Certain Premises and Businesses) Regulations 2020

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 296/2020
• Year: 2020

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 11th August, 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 Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Justice and Equality,

hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Face Coverings in Certain Premises and Businesses) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 10th day of August 2020.

Operation of Regulations

2. These Regulations shall remain in operation until the 5th day of October 2020.

Definitions

3. In these Regulations –

“face covering” means a covering of any type which when worn by a person covers the person’s nose and mouth;

“reasonable excuse” shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 5;

“relevant geographical location” means a geographical location to which an affected areas order applies;

“relevant premises” means an indoor premises, or a part of such a premises, to which the public has access -

(a) where goods are sold directly to the public,

(b) that is specified in Part A of the Schedule, or

(c) in which a service specified in Part B of the Schedule is provided or a business specified in Part B of the Schedule is carried on,

but does not include an indoor premises or a part of such a premises -

(i) that is a post office, credit union or bank,

(ii) in which the principal activity is the sale of food or beverages for consumption on the premises, or

(iii) in which the principal activity is the provision of medical or dental services or other healthcare services (other than retail pharmacy businesses (within the meaning of the Pharmacy Act 2007 (No. 20 of 2007)), optician and optometrist outlets and outlets providing hearing test services or selling hearing aids and appliances);

“responsible person”, in relation to a relevant premises, means each of the following:

(a) the occupier of the relevant premises,

(b) the manager of the relevant premises, and

(c) any other person for the time being in charge of the relevant premises;

“worker”, in relation to a relevant premises, means a person working at the relevant premises under a contract of employment or a contract for service.

Requirement to wear face covering

4. (1) A person shall not, without reasonable excuse, enter or remain in a relevant premises in a relevant geographical location without wearing a face covering.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to -

(a) a person under the age of 13 years,

(b) a responsible person or a worker where -

(i) there...