Wondering whether the digital Covid cert being emailed out this week is a workable ticket into pubs and restaurants? Can it be used directly from your phone? Can it be copied easily? Here’s a summary of what we know right now.

How does the Digital Covid Cert work?

The active technical bit is what’s called a ‘QR code’, which comes in the form of a square with lots of black and white dots, miniature squares and circles. Each one is unique and, when scanned by the proper QR scanning device, verifies the user’s status. You may already have seen QR codes used by the likes of restaurants, which redirect your phone to an online menu when the code is scanned.

What other personal information can you see when you open it?

Your name, date of birth, date of vaccination and unique certificate identifier.

Can I use this to get into a restaurant when indoor dining opens up?

Yes, according to the government.

What does the digital Covid Cert look like when it’s emailed to you?

It’s a PDF attached to the email you get. It’s specifically designed to be printed out.

Printed out? But can’t I add it to my phone?

Not easily. Your can’t automatically add it to your phone’s ‘wallet’ where you keep other passes and payment cards. You can awkwardly do it using apps such as Pass2U Wallet, but then all you’ll see in the wallet is a QR code. The government also says that a new ‘wallet’ section is to be added to the official Covid tracker app where you’ll be to store the digital Covid cert. It says this should be implemented by July 24th.

But isn’t it just the QR code bit that I need for verification?

No. For entering bars or restaurants, “it will be a visual inspection only for the first few weeks” according to Minister of State Ossian Smyth.

But I thought they’d be scanning the QR code?

Not initially, according to government ministers.

But what is the actual visual inspection then?

It means that you’ll be showing a staff member your Digital Covid Cert as a piece of paper. Presumably this is why the government has emailed it as a PDF to be printed.

So there’s no way to present it digitally on my phone?

Yes, but you’ll have to have a patient staff member who waits while you retrieve the email and open up the PDF and let them pinch and zoom through it to make sure it’s legitimate. Speaking today on RTE’s Today With Claire Byrne, Minister Smyth suggested that you can take a screenshot of the QR code for use on your phone.

But if it’s just a screenshot of a QR code, and there’s no scan conducted at the door, how on earth will the bar or restaurant know whether what they’re inspecting is real or copied?

They won’t.

But how will the system be credibly checked, then?

The government is suggesting that enforcement might be conducted by HSE or HSA workers doing spot checks, although this seems not to have been agreed with those organisations yet. The Gardai, we’re told. will not be conducting checks. The government is mainly hoping that most people will simply be honest.

How long will “visual inspections” be the main door check before scans of the QR codes start?

Minister Smyth said that this would last until “phase two” which will happen “in a few weeks”.

And then what happens?

It’s suggested that a system will be set up to allow restauranteurs and pub owners to check the QR codes for authenticity.

How do other countries do it?

In Denmark, they use a digital cert called the Coronopas. It’s scanned by door staff and beeps to let them know that it’s authentic. One way to stop it being copied or forged is that it shows the time there and then. So if it’s screenshotted or forged, it won’t show the accurate time.