Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are huge opportunities off the back of the pandemic to encourage people to earn as they learn.

They might not find a pathway into work quite readily but there are great opportunities with apprenticeships. Sometimes I worry about whether enough of an emphasis has been put on apprenticeships in transition year and in secondary schools. This was something we came across in the work of the Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation in the Thirty-second Dáil, but that is for another day. I wanted to highlight that matter again today because there are great opportunities there.

I apologise if this matter has been raised already but the format of the committee means we cannot spend all of our day here in the Chamber because of the restrictions that are in place. As businesses go back to work, certainty is needed. We heard a lot from IBEC and ISME earlier about clarity. Clarity on a 2 m limit as opposed to a 1 m limit for social distancing will have a huge impact on many businesses in the hospitality and childcare sectors. I understand this decision will be taken by the Cabinet under advice from NPHET but I was concerned yesterday to read in the Irish Independent that research by Fáilte Ireland projected that nine out of ten restaurants will not reopen if the 2 m limit remains in place. It estimated, however, that if this was cut to 1 m, about two-thirds of restaurants would reopen. There are 72,000 people working in this sector, but if the 2 m limit remains in place, only about one tenth of them will go back to work. If the limit was reduced to 1 m, however, it is estimated that employment in the sector would rise to 47,000 again. Tourism in this country could be shaped for years to come depending on what decisions are taken. What interaction has the Department had on this with NPHET or with the other Departments? The World Health Organization will be presenting to the committee on Thursday morning and I know this decision is more or less outside of the Department's control, but I want to emphasise how important it is for the hospitality industry and the childcare sector. It will make a huge difference to how these businesses go back to work. I am calling for clarity on this. If it is 2 m, we need to know that and if it is 1 m, we need to know that so they can move forward.