Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of the Department and Enterprise Ireland before the committee. Their presence is hugely important as we seek to reopen the economy and reboot it from a business point of view, particularly as we journey through Covid-19 and equally with an eye to recovery for the business sector post Covid-19. I appreciate that many supports have been put in place but some are not working as well as they should. In this vein I specifically reference the business restart scheme. I appreciate it is tied to rates. It excludes quite a cohort of people, particularly in my county of Kerry, which is a strong tourism county. A section of bed and breakfast accommodation has been excluded from the scheme. These bed and breakfast operators have been without business for practically all of 2020 to date and it is very difficult to see them up and running without specific supports at this stage or later in the year. Equally, we have bus operators and community centres. Huge sections of society are excluded from this specific support. I ask Dr. Quinn whether there is an opportunity for a similar scheme to be introduced for those who are excluded.