Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for coming in. I apologise for being late. I was in my office and thought we were having this meeting on Teams. I would have hated to miss the party.

I pay tribute to the former Minister, Eoghan Murphy. I served with him on Dublin City Council and while I disagreed with his politics, I always admired his energy, commitment and enthusiasm for the role. I wish him well. He is a bright and capable person and I hope he has much success after politics.

I thank the Minister for these proposals and amendments. He is true to form. He has supported businesses during this pandemic through the local authorities. The decisions and proposals he is making are pragmatic. My understanding is that while the Minister is waiving the fees, he is not abolishing the process by which businesses have to apply for the permissions. It is important that that is understood by both the businesses and the local communities.

The issues that have been raised in respect of mobility and access are very important. The Minister knows this and does not need any of us to tell him. There is a valid point to be made that, while we are supporting businesses with the waivers and the Minister is supporting them by allowing them to operate a takeaway service, those businesses need to take responsibility for the waste that has been generated from those takeaway services. Public space has never been more valuable in the city and around the country.

Our public spaces are there for all of us to enjoy but we must all protect them. I urge the Minister, through the local authorities and their offices, to communicate with the businesses that are benefiting from the rates waiver and to actively encourage them to engage in responsible packaging and clean-up. I also urge the Minister to ask the local authorities to review their cleaning schedules for our public places. The schedule of once a week, or once every 12 weeks as it is in some residential and more suburban areas of Dublin, is not sufficient in Covid times. I would appreciate it if the Minister could take those issues up with the local authorities.