The chief executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, Padraig Cribben, has said that it is expecting pubs to reopen on 10 August.
He said there are almost 4,000 family businesses around the country that will not have traded for five months at that stage.
Pubs shut down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. They were expected to reopen on 20 July during Phase 3 of the roadmap for easing restrictions but this was later postponed until 10 August.
Mr Cribben said pubs must open on that date to "have any chance of viability". The VFI chief is asking Fáilte Ireland for guidelines under which pubs can reopen, to give them a "fair chance" to trade.