Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will not go over many of the questions asked already about the health system and personal protective equipment. I have four quick questions and I will go through them fairly quickly. The Taoiseach might answer them all together.

The small and medium-sized, SME, business sector will be crucial to the kick-starting of the economy. It has been the hardest hit. Almost 1 million people have been employed in the SME sector. What assurances can the Taoiseach and the Government give that everything that can be done will be done to ensure these businesses will be able to open up and rehire their staff when these restrictions are lifted? The same applies to the hospitality sector. In Ireland it has been one of the hardest hit and it is likely to be one of the last to reopen. Hotels, bars and restaurants employ up to 300,000 people with a further 100,000 employed during the peak summer months, most of whom are students. In my native county alone, more than 27,000 people are employed in the tourism and hospitality sectors. A vast amount of revenue is generated in this sector from overseas visitors but it is unlikely to operate to any degree again this year. What specific plans are in place to help kick-start the tourism and hospitality sectors?

My next question was raised earlier. A significant number of people over 66 years of age continue to work, pay tax and contribute to the economy. Many continued to work for financial or family reasons. People who can prove they were working and lost their jobs directly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic should be allowed to top up their State pension to the rate of the Covid-19 unemployment payment. Can the Taoiseach outline the Government plans to do this? It is a fair question to ask if their pensions could be topped up to €350. I have spoken to many of them and they are agreeable to it.

I know landscapers have written to the Taoiseach; I imagine they have written to many Deputies in the House. They are being told that they cannot cut grass. They tell us that if they are not allowed to do it, then in two or three weeks' time, they will be unable to cut the grass in housing estates because it will have gone out of control. These are usually one-person operations. Could they be included in the essential services list? Those are my four quick questions.

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