One of the state’s largest restaurant and pub groups has filed a lawsuit against the government over the closure of Kovid-19 restrictions on indoor dining.

The Press Up Group in the Dublin area, which includes Elephant & Castle, Wagamama, The Clarence, Devlin, Dean Hotels and Stella Cinema, claims it will lose $ 20 million in business by the end of the year due to the closure.

The hospitality business controlled by businessman Paddy McClellan Jr. last week threatened to take legal action against the government if it decides to extend the Covid-19 restrictions.

Level 3 restrictions, which restrict gastropubs and restaurants to dot dining only, were introduced in Dublin last month but have been extended across the country until this week, October 27th.

The group’s new lawsuits, which began Wednesday, claim the state’s ban on suppressing and eradicating corona virus infections is based on “public welfare requirements in the context of the Kovid-19 pandemic.”

The business network, which employs more than 1,700 people across the group, claims that this is tantamount to “subjugation” of constitutional and public legal rights to the common good.

It argues that the state has failed to make any provision to compensate or compensate for the loss or interference of property rights “The need to close the premises to the public is a direct requirement of the intended purpose of the public good. . ”

The 55 area around Dublin has 37 restaurants, 11 bars, five hotels and two cinemas. The group says the site is valued at more than $ 10 million.

The team says the government has complied with health guidelines at all times since the start of the pandemic in March and has not been notified of the Kovid-19 eruption.

Eighteen companies in the group have filed lawsuits against health, finance ministers, the state and the attorney general.

The group said it had suffered “significant losses” due to the closure of locations, including the loss of more than $ 1 million in revenue and profits.

Matt Ryan, one of the group’s directors, said in an affidavit filed in the High Court that the group had had its staff number halved to 938 since the Level 3 restrictions were imposed in Dublin on September 19.

During the week of the restrictions, Ryan said the group’s turnover fell by about $ 1.4 million, or more than 70 percent, on a similar basis.

The current lockdown will continue until the end of the year and based on the 39-week turnover, similar turnover group turnover will fall to $ 20,731,695 or 72 percent. The lawsuit seeks more than $ 20 million in damages, ”he said.

The group had to be reduced from 1,719 to 159 following the initial lockdown in March 2020, but the group was able to increase the number of employees to 1,437 with the rescheduling and reopening of some venues for takeaway and delivery.

It was reduced to 938 after the rules were introduced on September 19th [GROUP’S]The environment, ”Mr. Ryan said.

The business group demanded that the process of access to the Commercial Court, the division of the High Court, which hears speedy cases, be expedited.