Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will speak for a minute and a half to allow the Minister to respond. The economic impact from the Covid outbreak has already been unprecedented. Many businesses throughout the country have had to close their doors to adhere to public health advice to combat the spread of the virus. Many supports, as the Minister has outlined, have been put in place with 590,000 receiving the pandemic unemployment payment and 452,000 employees receiving income support under the wage-subsidy scheme. Everyone realises this is not sustainable and the objective now, adhering to health and safety guidelines, is to get our economy back to work.

I was disappointed that the roadmap did not include any clear timeframe for manufacturing that is not deemed essential. Many businesses, closed now for seven to eight weeks, may not be deemed essential during a pandemic. However, they are deemed essential in the economy and to the region in which they are based. Many businesses are concerned that if they have to wait for the various phases, they may not be able to reopen.

Waterford is the county with the lowest number of people who contracted the virus per head of population. We currently have one case being treated in University Hospital Waterford. I thank everyone for their great work. On a case-by-case basis, maybe a regional or a county basis depending on all the guidelines being adhered to, might some manufacturing businesses be allowed to open sooner than recommended in the roadmap in order to be viable and to secure the future of their business as they really feel it necessary to open to compete with other competitors worldwide that are operational?

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