Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Deputy's acknowledgement that progress is being made on dealing with the Covid crisis and that the plan is working in terms of the steady cautious reopening of society as the vaccination programme successfully rolls out with great momentum. A total of 96% of the supply that comes in is being administered within a week by the HSE. People have commented on the efficiency of the vaccination programme and how effective it is. We have been very clear consistently in our interventions since the commencement of the pandemic. Throughout last summer and the first six months of this year, the State and Government intervention has been unprecedented in supporting incomes and in supporting businesses and enterprises. The entire rationale for this has been to protect as many jobs as we possibly can and to protect incomes above what they would otherwise have been given the impact of the virus on so many industries.

Without question, the impact has been most significant on the hospitality sector, the aviation sector, the arts and entertainment sectors and a number of other sectors that are related to these areas, such as taxi drivers. We have always amended our schemes with a view to trying to get more and more sectors covered by the supports. The next phase will be how we re-engineer, and facilitate the rebooting of, these sectors of the economy over the coming six months.

The national economic recovery plan will be the framework within which we identify the growth areas for the future and how we assist economic recovery as we reopen society in an effective way. We have said there will be no cliff edge in terms of the reduction of supports and this remains the position. The Cabinet subcommittee on economic recovery will continue to meet to finalise and fine-tune the national economic recovery plan. We are very conscious of the significant difficulties in aviation for the workers in that sector, including pilots, cabin crew, ground handling staff and throughout the sector. They have been out of work for a long time because of Covid-19, particularly because of the third wave. There are also the related hospitality and tourism industries. There will be good news in June for the hospitality sector, as hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation and guest houses will come back on 2 June and outdoor dining and drinking will return on 7 June. This is very positive. We will be in a position on Friday to clarify what is possible for June and July in all of these sectors, particularly aviation, hospitality, the arts and sport.

Last evening, two gardaí were shot and wounded. As I said in my statement last evening, it illustrates once again the extraordinary commitment and contribution of An Garda Síochána to the public well-being and the public interest. Last night's incident illustrates that around every corner as the gardaí go about their duty one never knows what can befall them. I wish the two gardaí a speedy recovery and thank An Garda Síochána for its consistent support of the public interest and of our citizens as they go about their daily duties.

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