Mr. Tim Fenn:

I thank the Deputy. To take the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme issue first, if a worker was not employed on 29 February 2020, he or she will not qualify for the scheme. That means that businesses that were open on 29 February are now directly competing with businesses that were closed for the winter period and have only managed to start now. We now have a temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme that is manifestly unfair. It is anti-competitive and it is leaving these people behind. It would be very easy for the Department to come up with a scheme that would use historical employment records to identify those who were employed last summer for inclusion in the scheme. There is a precedent for this. It was done for people who were on maternity or paternity leave and have been added to the scheme.

The temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme is a key part of the ongoing support our industry requires. We are now operating under the guidelines Mr. Cribben mentioned earlier. Those guidelines are in the interests of the health and safety of our staff, businesses and guests. They require a significant increase in staffing levels and running costs while businesses are being asked to operate at much lower capacities than normal. The difficulty with this is viability. If we seek to retain the connection between employees and employers and do our best to support the livelihoods of all of those people, the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme will be absolutely critical. It should be amended to include seasonal staff.