Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I listened, as I am sure Mr. Ó Lionáin did too, to the interview on "Today with Claire Byrne" the other day when somebody reported having been quoted €300 per day to rent a car, amounting to almost €1,000 for three days. It was the owner of an artisanal food business. I did not catch the beginning of the interview but the man was making the point that there was no suitable public transport and the business was depending on tourists to come in rented cars, so the odds were very much stacked against the business in that regard.

I thank both our guests for attending and for their presentation. We had the advantage of hearing from representatives of the sector itself before the officials joined us. One key issue I took from that earlier session related to the call regarding how that industry is falling between two stools. I acknowledge the Department has done amazing work, and we would be the first to pay compliments to the officials and the Minister in respect of how the Government and the Department got behind that sector earlier during Covid to give it every possible opportunity not just to survive but to succeed. Our guests from the previous session made the point that many of their industry's businesses would not be here today had that not been in place and the Department has to be sincerely congratulated on that.

On the point that the industry is falling between various stools, can our guests see any solutions for what the representatives of the sector outlined as the problems? I can see where they were coming from. The sector is caught between the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Scienceand that of our guests. The industry needs just one Department to be a one-stop shop that can address issues as they arise in the sector. Does Mr. Ó Lionáin have any thoughts on that?