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‘Give firms more control on office return’

The head of business group IBEC has called on the Government to allow companies more autonomy to reopen fully, and to provide certainty for the live-events sector.

In a letter to the Taoiseach, Danny McCoy (pictured) set out the group’s views ahead of the roadmap for the easing of COVID-19 restrictions that is expected to be published next week.

“With nearly nine out of ten adults now fully vaccinated, it is time that greater personal responsibility for individuals, and autonomy for businesses in their office operations, forms the core of the approach in the next phase of COVID,” the letter said.

‘Less prescriptive’

McCoy said that the new roadmap should be “less prescriptive in nature than previously”, and should give businesses the autonomy to reopen fully “in a safe and phased way”.

He described the experience of recent months as “a very frustrating period”, as firms had been forced to revise their plans to bring staff back to offices on numerous occasions. The IBEC chief said the Government plan should enable companies to “plan with certainty” for a return to the office over the coming weeks and months.

McCoy said that his organisation was concerned about the impact of restrictions on parts of the ‘experience economy’, saying that restrictions had left many of these businesses, and their employees, in “perilous circumstances”.

“The roadmap must provide absolute clarity and certainty for all businesses to fully reopen, as quickly as possible, beginning no later than mid-September,” the letter said.