Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to address a number of issues. First, with regard to loans, supports and grants, the one thing I am being told by hoteliers, publicans and small business people is that they do not want loans. Quite simply, loans have to be paid back and they are already burdened with loans. If assistance is going to be given out, it will have to be in the form of grants. In other words, it will have to be money that they do not have to pay back because quite simply, they will not be able to pay it back.

I also want to raise the very serious situation with regard to the Debenhams workers. I have met some of those workers who were working very diligently in a retail outlet in Tralee. One thing they said to me very strongly, and I am delighted it is the case, is that Debenhams is going strong online and its sales are strong. If its sales are strong, why is it leaving the important people, those worked for the company, served its customers every day, sold its goods and operated in County Kerry, in the great town of Tralee behind? What is this Government going to do to intervene on behalf of and in support of the Debenhams workers? They have been protesting for the past number of days. They were out again yesterday and I want to hear the Minister say what she will be able to do to support them.

I want to come back to hoteliers. I am very glad that Kerry is the tourism capital not just of Ireland but of the western world. Having said that, the success we have had in tourism over the years has now resulted in the fact that we have been impacted more than any other part of the country because we have so many hoteliers, public houses, restaurants and good people working in those businesses.

I raised with the Taoiseach the very important issue of seasonal workers. When the virus first began to spread and criteria were set for the Covid-19 payment of €350 per week it meant that many seasonal workers who would have been working during March and April had not started work on 6 March or subsequent to that. Those people are losing out on the €350 payment. I am very upset about that.

When we are talking about the recovery and getting back to work, I want to give the Minister an example of what we are talking about. There are currently 83 Clúid Housing units under construction on a 6 acre site in Killarney. What would be wrong with people on that site going back to work next week? There would be absolutely nothing wrong with it. I am not being smart about social distancing, but a man working on one side of the site would have to walk a long way to meet another person if the site was reopened. It is perfectly reasonable, sensible and practical for such workers to return to sites. If people want social isolation, they should go out and work on a digger. Who would get near such a person?

I refer to coach companies. I wish to raise an important matter with the Minister. I am aware of coach operators in Kerry who bought new coaches in February and March. They are registered but have not yet been driven on the roads. They are brand new and have never done a mile on a road. They will be devalued by €30,000 this year because of the registration plates on them. The owners want to know if the coaches can be deregistered and instead of being a coach registered in 2020 start next January as a 2021 coach. It is a practical proposal. If the Department could agree to that, it would save those companies a lot of money and would mean a lot to them.

I ask for specific answers to my specific questions because they are important. It is nice to compliment people when they are doing work. I want to compliment the Minister and those in her Department on the work they are doing. I am asking on my bended knees that the Minister be practical about things like this. There are sensible proposals that the Department can implement to help small business.

There are plenty of other cases similar to the 83 units being built in Killarney. This is about social and affordable housing, putting people into homes and getting men and women out on the road and back into work again in a safe way. No one is saying that anything should happen that does not ensure safe distancing from other people. Those who operate small companies, such as haulage businesses which would put lorries on the roads, will work in the best and safest way.

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