Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There has been a very clear failure of communication between business and the Government regarding what should come after level 5. I do not believe anyone would dispute that. For weeks, businesses have been calling for clarity regarding Christmas trading. The public were looking for information on the public health measures that would be in place for Christmas and how things will look after 1 December. Today, the Tánaiste tweeted that we are on our way out of level 5 but he did not tweet about what is coming after that so we have mothers and fathers who do not know what size turkey, nut roast or whatever they are having for Christmas to order because they do not know if their children will be home. We have workers who cannot arrange their lives over the festive period because they do not know if they will be working or what work will look like. We have businesses that do not know how many staff they will have to roster, the stock they will need to order, the additional health and safety protections that will be necessary or their opening and closing hours. Essentially, they have no idea what trading will look like.

I have been in touch with countless businesses and many reached out to me in advance of speaking in this debate to relay their concerns about having no clarity on what next week will bring. The Hamlet bar, in Balbriggan, Pottager Restaurant, in Skerries, the Manor Inn, in Swords, The Snug, in Skerries and Kealy's of Cloghran are a tiny fraction of the number of people who have reached out because businesses are desperate at this stage. In normal times, planning for Christmas takes place months in advance, therefore, it is completely unfair during a pandemic to leave businesses in the dark regarding the nature of Christmas trading.

The Government, along with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Health, should be sitting down with businesses - it should have been done before now - and with workers' representatives from the trade union movement, to give them an idea of what they can expect. That would have been the best way to ensure that businesses can plan to operate in a safe and secure manner which protects workers and customers because that is what they want to do. They want to protect their staff and their customers but they want to trade. Instead, it is being left to the last minute for families and businesses alike and because of that workers, small businesses and families will be left scrambling.

People know that Christmas will not be the same this year as last year. They are already across that and, for very many people, all they want is to get Christmas over with but for 2021 can we please have deeper engagement with businesses, workers and their representatives? I urge the Minister and his colleagues to be imaginative, think outside the box and consider measures that will stimulate the economy such as the voucher scheme introduced by my colleague, Conor Murphy, in the North. I ask him to be imaginative, plan ahead and allow us to get a good start on 2021 for workers, jobs and the general public.

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