Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair. All restaurants were closed for 105 days during this time. There was significant cash burning. Large hoteliers were out of pocket by €2,000 at day. Local authority charges need to be waived. This funding needs to be given to local authorities so they can waive the rates system to get our businesses back up and running. That is one way to do it. The money needs to be given back to our councils to invest in housing voids so we can put people back into our towns and villages and use the housing stock we have. The Government talks about building new houses left, right and centre. We haves massive stock that could be rebuilt.

It is about the here and now and this summer. In Northern Ireland, gatherings, including weddings, are determined on the size of the venue. Last week, we spoke about churches, which had a limit of 50 people but then it was decided that this could be increased depending on the size of the church. This also needs to be done for hotels. We must be very conscious of the funding coming through and ensure the cost of the money is not borne by the companies keeping us afloat during the pandemic. We want to make sure the funding gets in now and is continued for 12 months to ensure these companies come back strong.

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