The Government plans to invest â¬17 million in upgrades for local authorities and businesses to help create outdoor dining spaces.
Under a new scheme, businesses will be able to apply for grants of up to â¬4,000 each to invest in outdoor seating and other amenities.
International data
Orla Hegarty, assistant professor of architecture at University College Dublin, said the Irish figures on outdoor transmission were not robust but they were in line with data from other countries. She said a study in China found that only three out of 1,200 cases examined were transmitted out of doors.
She told RTÃ radio 1âs Today with Philip Boucher-Hayes that âoutdoor events need a lot of protection around them, people need to realise that close conversations can be high risk, that sharing a car or a taxi or a bus to get there can be very high risk.