Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá brón orm go raibh mé déanach. I have a query on table 1. Can the Minister of State clarify the shortfall in terms of SASP, single authorisation for simplified procedures? Can he clarify what occurred and give a bit more detail?

On the retail export scheme, I am sure many of us have been contacted by huge numbers of constituents on this. The fact of the matter is that the hospitality sector, especially in the likes of Galway, has been massively affected by Covid-19 and the resulting restrictions. This is another hit for the tourism industry. I know an amendment has been submitted to change it to €75 but we know that 50% of all transactions are for less than €75 so it is another hit. Since this scheme is operated by Revenue, will the Minister of State explain the rationale behind it? I am concerned, as are many people in the Galway area, in particular.

We saw that the Central Statistics Office, CSO, published yesterday that there has been a 38% decrease in traffic volumes. This is up to November so it does not include the level 5 restrictions currently in place. The Minister of State knows well that there are insurance companies out there who have given just €15 back in SuperValu vouchers for people who have not been able to use their car, such as people who are working from home and that kind of thing. That is a huge cost and the insurance companies are ripping off ordinary customers at the best of times. Now in the middle of a pandemic, when people have lost their income and are not using their cars and the CSO tells us there is nearly 40% less traffic on the roads, they are being hit again.

We need to see at least 20% of insurance premiums paid back. Does the Minister of State agree? What has he done about this? We in Sinn Féin have written to the insurance federation on this but it is important that action is immediately taken. People cannot afford this and 20% of premiums must immediately come back to the customers.