Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not have questions to be answered. I would like to make a broader statement because of the Minister's senior Cabinet position and her broader knowledge based on her previous experience in the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. I am sure that, like myself, both Ministers have been inundated with calls and queries from worried retailers at various stages over the last year or so. We must now look at how to support these retailers to remain open in the medium to long term and to keep as many people as possible in employment.

There needs to be an interdepartmental examination of the fallout, which will have significant consequences for the Departments for which the Minister and Minister of State have responsibility, namely, the Departments of Social Protection and Rural and Community Development. Unfortunately, it looks as though we will be closed for a number of months at least before most retail outlets will be permitted to reopen. Now is the time that we need to be preparing our support system. It would be irresponsible if not immoral, were the Government to simply cast such businesses to one side with no support to help them get back on their feet.

County Wexford is one of the counties that has been hardest hit by unemployment in Ireland. Our unemployment rate is now the fifth highest in the country. A large percentage of the jobs in County Wexford are in the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors. Businesses have gone to great lengths to satisfy Government requirements over the past year and most were greatly concerned when their businesses were ordered to close. To compensate for their inconvenience, the Government must be there with a support system. This means there needs to be clear engagement with the sector in order that we do not end up with thousands of people being stuck on the PUP because of a lack of support to businesses. The narrow scope of the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, is partly responsible for the number of PUP claimants from the sector. Wholesalers, catering businesses and the entertainment sectors are all left out of the CRSS.

Many retailers also face stocking issues. In the boutique sector, for example, it is rolling stock over while trying to pay on finance for the next season. Many of these boutiques will have ordered spring stock for 2021 at the end of the summer of 2020. While it has been bought and paid for, yet they cannot open. They also will be buying stock for next winter shortly and it is just a continuous cycle. Many are now having to pay VAT and even, in some cases, massive delivery increases because their supplies are coming from the UK.

These are the realities facing the retail sector and we need a plan to support the businesses in dealing with the issues I have outlined, such as those enterprises that are outside the scope of the CRSS. There are anomalies in the CRSS and now is the time to examine them and sort them out. The scheme needs to be broadened and the Minister’s Department can surely identify from which sectors people are signing on to the PUP. We need to ensure that the anomalies are addressed and that support is available to see that the jobs remain sustainable. I recognise this might be a short-term cost burden for the Department but if we allow these problems to develop, it will be a far greater cost in the long run, with jobs and businesses collapsing. The problem is very much linked to rural development. It is becoming increasingly difficult to run a town centre business in rural Ireland and Covid-19 has made that an even bigger challenge.

Those facing the gravest challenges are also those on Pobal supports. A variety of community projects that are vital to rural Ireland are now struggling to survive. One such project close to my heart in New Ross is St. Michael’s Theatre. It can access neither the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, nor the CRSS, it is generating no income and its Pobal funding falls far short of what is needed if it is to survive this extended lockdown. There is no system in place to adjudicate cases outside of the CRSS beyond Revenue and had all these people been accommodated, we may have been able to look forward to the future with many more businesses being able to reopen.

In conclusion, I understand that this is a very fast-moving situation and it is not always possible to get everything right. I also understand how hard the Department staff are working and I join with my colleague, Deputy O’Dea, in saying that we have had great support from the social protection staff in our local offices. I ask the Minister and Minister of State to consider these issues at Cabinet level.

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