Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Committee on Public Petitions

Consideration of Public Petition on Adding Chefs to the Critical Skills List Now to Save Irish Hospitality: Discussion

Photo of Pat BuckleyPat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I listened to how passionate Mr. Nizam Bin Nayan is. We need a strong hospitality sector that complements the tourism sector. That is a no-brainer. I was lucky enough to watch maybe an hour and a half of the pro-am in Adare during the week. There was general commentary from all the television stations about how the people reacted, how the crowds in Ireland, the scenery and so on are different. I understand how one can sell tourism, which is a huge industry in this country. If we does not have the hospitality sector to complement that, however, we will fall down.

I have an issue that relates to the Philippines more than Malaysia. We have a critical skills shortage in our fishing industry. It has been decimated, but that is a different story.

The Chair asked about a particular matter I am interested in. The witnesses set out clearly that this is not an excuse to jump ship and slip out under the radar. They are right. I wish I had the opportunity that Mr. Nizam Bin Nayan had. He has a special talent that gave him the opportunity to travel the world and share it with other people. As I said, in Ireland, we are not bad old grubbers. We like our food. Mr. Nizam Bin Nayan has opened my eyes to this. I will keep an eye on it. We will obviously discuss this afterwards. It makes sense if it speeds up and simplifies the process. As the witnesses said, there is a switch between the Departments, including the Department of Justice. Could that be streamlined? The Departments could work with the industry. If there is engagement, they will learn.

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