Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak. I am sharing time with Teachta Cullinane and Teachta Daly - five minutes each.

When we heard on the news over the weekend that tourism was among the sectors worst hit by the Covid-19 job losses, it came as confirmation for most of us rather than a surprise. The sector is crucial. In many areas it is the beating heart of local economies but, dependent as it is on the movement of people, it has been decimated by Covid-19. The tourism and hospitality sector supports an estimated 260,000 jobs in Ireland. That is 11% of total employment, making it our largest local employer, and it has reached into every region and county. Some 70% of jobs in the sector are outside Dublin - 6,500 of them are in my county of Meath - highlighting the regional contribution of tourism and its vital role in spreading employment opportunities and prosperity across the entire country.

In recent weeks we have seen pubs and restaurants, shops, hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfast premises, museums, galleries, theatres, visitor centres, tour operators - the list goes on - closed, many with hundreds of employees who have thousands of years of combined working experience. For many, it is a lifetime's work. I extend my solidarity to those workers at this uncertain time.

If the economic impact is great, I suggest that the social impact is many times that. Festivals, events and places that bring people together are all out of bounds. These are matters of the greatest importance. Literally hundreds of thousands of workers and their families - entire communities in some cases - are waiting in anticipation.

I have two questions for the Minister of State. We need a dedicated recovery plan for the tourism and hospitality sector. The business supports announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, at the weekend do not go anywhere near far enough. They are not ambitious enough, focused enough or extensive enough. Will the Minister of State commit to the establishment of a tourism recovery task force to develop and deliver a dedicated tourism recovery package? In his opening statement, he made reference to looking at the structures. Will a tourism recovery task force be part of that? Will he outline a timeline for the delivery of that?

Separately, our air and sea ports are the vital lifelines for the tourism and hospitality sector and we want to see them thrive but there are concerns that essential Covid-19 precautions are not being implemented. It is suggested that entrants are not being screened and followed up, and social media magnifies that. Will the Minister of State outline the plans in place to ensure that ports and airports will not act as Covid-19 vectors and will be ready to respond to the increased traffic that we hope to see in the coming weeks and months?

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