Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I do not need to remind him what an important part of the tourism industry the restaurant sector is. It supports approximately 64,000 jobs. According to the restaurateurs themselves, at least one in three of them is in danger of closing within the next few months. That will not come as a surprise because in every town and city, including Dublin, restaurants are closing down regularly. Their main problem is that costs are too high. One of the issues they have raised is that of higher payments for Sunday working. I understand that there have been some improvements from double time down to time and a third, but the whole structure of the catering industry pay rates seems to be a real barrier to survival for many such firms. Has the Minister made representations to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in this regard? Are there any proposals to try to bring such costs down to a more realistic level in the current situation, so that they would at least compare favourably to what other similar countries are charging? I am not asking the Minister to compare the situation with poorer countries, but with what similar countries are paying.

The other complaint concerns fat traps. Can the Minister make representations to local authorities about that? These are traps that must be installed by law to catch grease in restaurants. It is expensive to install them but it can cost almost €1,000 to have them monitored by a private company, even though the environmental health officers come out for other purposes. This adds to the cost of running a restaurant, along with waste licences. Another money spinner for local authorities are the outdoor seating areas. That was fine in the good times, but they are putting businesses out of work now. Is there anything the Minister can do, such as talking to local authorities about the importance of this for the economy? We must all put our shoulders to the wheel now.

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