Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I direct my question to Ruth Andrews. I come from a Border area, Dundalk, which realises the importance of the tourist industry. Ms Andrews's opening statement is very comprehensive and she held nothing back. She referred to the last recession in 2010 and what a good job tourism did in getting the economy back and running and creating 65,000 jobs. Tourism is haemorrhaging now and is in a very bad position. In the past nine months more than 180,000 jobs have been lost and the economy has lost nearly €6 billion. I am happy that the tourism recovery team is being established, that is very welcome, and it is good that it has 14 members from different areas. However, are the right people getting the funds? Is it going to the grassroots people and SMEs? When I travel around the country and go to bed and breakfast accommodations, they are waiting for money from Fáilte Ireland and so on.

Ms Andrews's opening statement used the word "short-term" which I found alarming. She said "the measures announced in Budget 2021 for the survival of the tourism industry are very welcome and will support the industry in the short-term". What more is needed? The next six weeks of level 5 restrictions will be very important. What plans are in place for those six weeks and then for the three, six or nine months? She used great words like recovery, security and survival. All the right things are there but it is very important that people on the ground see the work being done. Many of them, the SMEs, are very unhappy because they do not seem to be getting the all money that is promised. Is the money being distributed fairly? Is everyone getting a fair crack of the whip? Some 75% of tourism here is overseas visitors. Are we doing enough to get business here? Is everything being done that can be done?