Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will ask some brief questions to allow as much time as possible for responses. I thank the witnesses for their opening statements, which contain some interesting proposals. I was initially going to ask what engagement there has been with the Government on additional support and long-term grants but going on what has been said, it seems there has not been much clarity or meat put on the bones with the detail of what will be forthcoming.

I think I heard correctly when the Restaurants Association of Ireland indicated that it favours direct grants, particularly with respect to outdoor dining. The previous speaker mentioned that this is Ireland and one cannot necessarily sit out even in the summer months and be guaranteed good weather. Has there been any confirmation from the Minister or the Government on direct grants for outdoor dining?

Is there a restaurant or pub representative on the tourism recovery oversight group? Given the current circumstances, it might be welcome if that were the case. As a committee, I ask that we write to the Minister asking her to consider appointing somebody to the group from either the restaurant or pub groups, given our current circumstances.

Have Fáilte Ireland or Tourism Ireland been helping the restaurant and hospitality sector or could they do more to help? In his opening statement, Mr. O'Keeffe posed questions about data and the circumstances that would govern pubs reopening, particularly in the context of the percentage of the population vaccinated, etc. That would be useful information and it would allow the groups to plan for when the time comes.

I suggest that as a committee we write to the relevant Ministers, asking them to furnish us with that sort of information, which clearly every single sector represented here today is crying out for.

I have a question on the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS. How long into 2021 will the scheme be available? As far as I am aware, the restart grant scheme closed for applications at the end of October 2020. Has there been an indication that it will be available to businesses reopening this summer? I will leave it at that. I have one final question. As was mentioned, we proposed a voucher scheme to the Government last year, but instead it chose to go with a scheme that turned out to be a flop. I ask each representative to answer on a "yes" or "no" basis whether they would be in favour of a voucher scheme for this summer to encourage tourism and people to eat out.