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

I very much agree with Deputy Doherty that the tourism, hospitality and travel sector is a significant part of the economy. A quarter of a million more people are working in that sector, which is very dependent on travel, both international and domestic. It is a sector that was hit hardest first and will probably be affected the longest as a result of this pandemic. While people running pubs and hotels will be very disappointed at the decision the Government took last night they will acknowledge that the decision was taken for good reasons of public health, as Deputy Doherty acknowledged in his contribution.

In terms of how we support these sectors and how we save jobs, different countries will adopt different approaches and when one compares packages one needs to compare them in the round. For example, in the UK, including Northern Ireland where Deputy Doherty's party is in power, the wage subsidy scheme will come to an end in October and instead something is being done with VAT for one month. Our approach may be a different one. We may decide that the best way to protect jobs is to continue the wage subsidy scheme beyond October. When one talks about what different countries do, one has to look at it in the round. The focus that we have taken to date is the wage subsidy scheme, because that is the most effective way to keep people in work and it targets those businesses most affected. We have warehoused tax liabilities and brought in the pandemic unemployment payment for reasons of social solidarity. In the initial phase of this pandemic we made much greater payments than have been the case in other countries, including north of the Border. As well as that, we have waived commercial rates for three months.

In terms of what is planned in the July stimulus, that is not decided yet. It will be decided on Monday, with a view to being published on Tuesday or Wednesday. We are looking at all sorts of different potential actions and I do not want to speculate on them too much here because that may then raise expectations that cannot be met. One of the things we are examining is whether the commercial rates waiver should be continued for a longer period. That saves money for businesses in terms of reducing their costs. We are also considering whether the wage subsidy scheme should be continued and opened to groups of workers that are not currently covered, such as seasonal workers who were not on the payroll back in February. In addition, we are considering whether we should do something about the restart grant. The restart grant has been very beneficial for many businesses, but some did not qualify and, to give the other side of the coin, some correctly pointed out that the restart grant north of the Border is more generous than it is here. These are the kinds of things we are examining.

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