David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have five minutes. With the support of the Ceann Comhairle, I will take two minutes to speak, ask the Minister of State to respond for two minutes and use the remaining minute to wrap up my contribution. It is important to leave time for us to get responses to the questions we put to the Minister of State. He said in his opening remarks that tourism is one of the most directly affected sectors in the current crisis. Nobody would disagree with that. He also said that tourism will seek to survive before it can start to recover. Again, I agree with that.

However, for the tourism sector to survive there must be a plan, and it has to be a plan that is separate from any plan for other sectors of the economy because of how precarious the situation is for the many businesses affected by the tourism sector, including hotels, restaurants, bars and other hospitality services as well as a whole range of other tourism products. There does not seem to be the urgency from the Department that is needed in this regard. I welcome that there may be a task force, but there must be immediate measures that can be put in place in the here and now. I am sure the Minister of State is talking to the same hotel owners who are telling me their doors will not be reopened unless there are tangible and practical solutions put on the table.

In regard to the rents waiver the Minister of State spoke about, three months is not enough. Business owners require certainty in the here and now. Will the Minister of State commit to there being a commercial rates waiver for the rest of the year for the hospitality sector? Those involved need to hear that level of certainty. The grants scheme that was announced some weeks ago is woefully inadequate in terms of the supports put in place. It needs to be revisited.

The Minister for Health spoke about the possibility of an extra bank holiday towards the end of the year. Is that being looked at seriously? It would be of benefit because the tourism sector does well out of bank holiday weekends. Will the Minister of State respond to those points?

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