Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid that I am going to disappoint Deputy Healy-Rae and tell him that I agree with all of my colleagues in the decision that has been made. I absolutely understand how difficult it is for those pubs that are not in a position to be open. I absolutely understand how hard vintners and publicans work in running businesses, and the hugely important role they play in societies and in the lives of the people as represented by Deputy Healy-Rae just now. The evidence that was presented to the Government did show that there are risks involved in the congregation of people when it does not involve food. If we are trying to open up parts of our economy, if we are trying to reopen the restaurants, as referred to by Deputy Healy-Rae, and if we are trying to open up hotels again, then we have to make choices to allow other and more businesses to open up. I absolutely understand that this is very hard, and very tough and demanding for those businesses that remain closed. The reason we brought in the Covid restriction support scheme was so these very businesses would be able to get up to 10% of their turnover back per week they are closed. The scheme is in place because we recognise the difficulty that has been referred to by Deputies who represent closed businesses. We recognise that by those businesses being closed it hopefully creates an environment in which we can keep other businesses open for longer. In recognition of this, the Covid restriction support scheme is in the Finance Bill 2020 to support those businesses.

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