Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The discussion has centred around the challenge of recruitment and I can give examples of people from hotels and restaurants who have been in touch with me about this.

They had placed advertisements for positions in newspapers in July and it was November by the time they got a response with respect to filling those positions. Those are good reputable hotels which are good places in which to work. Some hotels have changed from advertising in regional newspapers on a monthly basis to a weekly basis, which involves a cost factor. The witnesses are aware of the challenges but those examples underline the difficulty in recruiting staff. I appreciate the efforts and initiatives taken by Fáilte Ireland and by the Department to encourage people and get the message out that hospitality is a good career option. Is the Department of the view there is still a hang-up from the pandemic, or a nervousness about the sector because of what happened during the pandemic? Even though wages might increase and job security in the sector might become more positive, is there a nervousness about the sector because the next pandemic might be around the corner and the industry might shut down? Is there a hang-up about that? How would the Department address such nervousness about the sector?