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

I am very far away but I am still here anyway. I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy English, on his new post. I wish him well. I had a lot of interaction with him when he was at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. I hope we will continue to work positively on behalf of the people we represent.

First, I have to declare that I am a small publican in a small rural village. Publicans around the county of Kerry, and indeed countrywide, are very concerned about comments made by the new Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin. They are wondering if pubs will be allowed to open on 20 July. In that vein, what is the difference between somebody having a meal and a pint in a restaurant and someone who comes after having his or her meal, who can only afford the price of two or three pints, and who cannot get in anywhere for a pint? That does not make sense to me. Pubs should be open now the same as restaurants-cum-pubs. They are regulated and always have been, and over the years they have provided a massive service to communities, especially rural communities. Now, sadly, they are closed, and it is in doubt whether they will open. What difference is it to have the meal in the pub or to have it before coming to the pub? It should not be any different. It only makes sense where there are lots of restaurants in urban areas or where there are crowds, and we saw there were crowds in Dublin, and people are queuing up to get in. We know that when only half of the places are open, more people will go to places that are open when they cannot got to places that are closed. People make sense of what is done, but what is being done does not help stop the coronavirus one iota.

I want to talk about the VAT rate for the hotel and tourism industries, which have been calling for a reduction for many weeks and months now. The former Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, said there should be no problem in reducing it but he did not do it. I must remind him that he was the Minister of State involved in raising it from 9% to 13.5%. I call for it to be reduced to at least 5% to help these people who are on their knees.

Bus operators and drivers and taxi drivers and owners are on their knees, and we need give them help. Some of them are afraid to come off the €350 pandemic unemployment payment because if they try and fail, and it is very doubtful whether they will succeed, they cannot then get back on the payment. Something needs to be done for the people who will try. I ask that the temporary wage subsidy scheme be extended to include seasonal workers who were not working in January or February.

I must mention our new Minister, Deputy Cowen. His case should be closed now because he paid the price, he paid the penalty and he has said he is sorry. What I am more interested in now is what he will do as Minister with responsibility for agriculture and how he will deal with all the issues.

One issue we must deal with is the fair deal scheme for farmers, because it is not fair now, and even the Bill that is proposed is not adequate. Will the Minister ensure that the value of the farm is disregarded and that the scheme will apply only to the residential house on the land, as is the case for everyone else throughout the country? The value of the farm should be disregarded. Where a young fellow values his farm at just €400,000, the sum he will have to pay under the three-year cap on the value of the farm could amount to €80,000 on top of that €400,000.

I am sorry. I am eating into someone else's time.

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