Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for that.

In respect of the second part of the Tánaiste's contribution this morning, when he very much wore the hat of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I welcome the prospect of the national economic plan being published soon. Obviously he is aware of the serious concerns that were articulated by some organisations in the retail and hospitality sectors on the ability to take back staff and to have a sufficient supply of staff for reopening. Certainly our Sunday newspapers and a lot of radio airtime have been given over to the issue in recent days. What is going to be done for these sectors? What are the issues with these sectors that they cannot get staff? Is it pay or skills? Is it time that we had a proper joint labour committee for the retail and hospitality sectors to enable us to talk through those issues? Some of the issues arise because the pay rate is the national minimum wage or barely above it, so there are difficulties in attracting workers back.