Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the four organisations for their presentations. I can only imagine the difficulties of those directly involved in business are facing. I know this from speaking to a number of businesses around the country and in my home county of Wexford in particular. The committee needs to stress the need for the EWSS to be extended in the national recovery plan. We must make clear for the staff of hotels and pubs that open that we should consider extending the EWSS until the end of the year or, at least, until businesses are back on their feet. I echo Ms Fitzgerald Kane's concerns on the cap on the CRSS.

Ms Fitzgerald Kane is right that the witnesses are involved in a people business. This is not about bricks and mortar but people. With some exceptions, they have not had people on the ground for the best part of a year. If we move towards opening in June, will there be enough staff in place to open effectively? What lead-in period will be required to upskill and train staff?

I refer to what Mr. Cribben stated at the start. It is about giving targets more than giving hope. The difficulty for the Government is that it is dealing with many moving parts. Would the witnesses accept a scenario in which the Government signalled that the hospitality sector would open on 15 June, subject to certain criteria, including the number of hospitalisations, the R rate and mutations? Would they be happy to have the sector open if clear criteria were set out? However, if we were going in the wrong direction one or two weeks before that, the opening date could be postponed. The worst thing we could do is open the sector and then tell everyone they must close two weeks later.