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

I met the representative groups of taxi drivers and I have met them individually. I appreciate the devastating impact the pandemic has had on them. As Deputy O'Rourke is aware, they are entitled to the pandemic unemployment payment and can still earn income while drawing that down. There is an enterprise grant when they come off the pandemic unemployment payment and I believe fees are being waived too. I appreciate that more will need to be done for them and they may need an individual package of some sort. I am in discussions with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about that.

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett's question on Israel, as I said earlier, we have had a very strong statement from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney. We will be using our position on the UN Security Council and in the EU to advocate for further action and joint action, but that is something we have to do around the table first.

Finally, on the issue of hospitality, I understand the annoyance around the disparity between hotels and restaurants but we must bear in mind that, since day one, even during level 5 and during the worst period of the pandemic, we allowed hotels to serve meals to their guests in their restaurants, so we do not want to take that away now. However, I appreciate that now creates a disparity between hotels and restaurants. I anticipate that will only last for a few weeks, and we are aiming for indoor dining to resume in July, but a lot can happen between now and then.

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