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

I congratulate the Minister on his new position and welcome the stimulus package, even though it does not cover everything that I need. It is to be hoped amendments can be introduced so that it can work for all of the people in Ireland.

Publicans were told that they could open two weeks ago. They stocked their bars and sanitised their pubs in preparation for opening. The Government then made a decision not to allow them to open. Publicans who have closed their businesses are in receipt of the Covid payment. In rural areas, it is often the case that only family members work in pubs. Publicans across the country have contacted me this week to tell me that one person working in a pub is getting the Covid payment but that person's partner had the payment reduced to €203. People are being penalised despite the fact that publicans have spent money on getting their pubs ready, sanitising everything and putting massive work into premises. We have to get this right.

Opening rural pubs is very simple. External catering can be brought into public houses. One can get soup and a sandwich from any bar during the tourism season. Pubs do not need kitchens for that type of system. External caterers provide food from vat units and fridges. They only heat up sandwiches. Our rural pubs could open if a small bit of common sense was introduced.

All I am asking is for our rural pubs to open up because people are travelling ten or 15 miles to towns and villages. People who are being dropped off for a drink need to get somebody to collect them, which adds to their journey. They are not supporting their local areas. Some pubs are open because they serve food and others are afraid they will find it very difficult to get their customer base back. If this happens, rural pubs will close anyway.

Bus companies have told me they invested in new tour buses at cost of hundreds of thousands of euro at the start of the year. New buses are now parked in yards, but they have to be paid for. They have 201 licence plates, but will not be used until at least 2021. These buses have very few kilometres on the clock because they have been parked in yards, and must be re-registered. Buses are paid for based on a five-year turnaround so that we have good quality buses for tours. We have to do something for bus companies or reimburse them for the losses they will incur for the buses they have bought.

Dromcollogher respite care centre was the first centre for the elderly built in Ireland. It is a 20-bed unit that provides breaks for families for one or two weeks a year. It has been closed since March. It has had 7,000 admissions since 2002. It serves Limerick, north Cork and north Kerry. It operates under the regulations governing nursing homes. It is not a nursing home; it is a respite centre. Legislation is preventing it from reopening. Fewer people want to go to the centre, but it is not allowed to open because its regulation falls under the nursing homes legislation. We have to work to change that.

We need to build more and extend rest homes. Unless we can do so, they will never be able to reopen under the current legislation. There needs to be investment in these homes which help people to stay at home and have one or two weeks of respite.

This helps, as people do not go into nursing homes because they get the respite care they need during the year and can be catered for at home. We need to invest in our older people and help them. The community around the likes of Dromcollogher district respite care centre need it to reopen. It will not be able to reopen, however, unless it gets proper investment and unless this legislation is changed. I ask for the Minister's to help do anything he can to change this Bill and get investment into these rest homes in order that people in the areas of Limerick, north Cork and north Kerry will get the help and investment they need to care for their elderly in the future.

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