Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. There is the reopening grant of up to €10,000 which is available to small businesses to help them reopen. Rates are waived for three months. There is the wage subsidy scheme, which pays a lot of the salaries and wages of people who work in small businesses. In terms of utilities, one only pays for the utilities one pays for, but the companies have agreed a suspension.

We are going to look at doing more. One of the things we are looking at is something the Deputy specifically raised, that being, businesses or places that do not pay rates. I would be aware of a few, for example, local tourist attractions or museums around the country that are charitable and they do not pay rates, but they need money to reopen just as much as anyone else does. That is one of the things we are examining. Perhaps we could do something a little bit better with the reopening grant. What we have done, we have done. It is not the end of it. We are going to have to do more, and we accept that. If the Deputy has any specific proposal she wants to make, we will examine it.

Regarding private patients needing care in June in private hospitals, I think we should be aware that it is not impossible for private patients to be brought into private hospitals by their private consultants. In fact, that is happening. They just cannot be charged. There are consultants who have accepted the State contract - €4,000 per week, not a small amount of money - and are seeing those patients pro bonoin private hospitals. That is what they should do.

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