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

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the dilemma that exists. We did take a look at phasing out PUP on a sectoral basis but it is not as straightforward as that either. While retail may be open, many people formerly employed in the sector in the airport have not yet returned to work. While a handful of sandwich shops have re-opened, there are sandwich shops all over the city centre that are still closed because office workers are not back yet. Doing it on a sectoral basis is difficult but it is not something we are ruling out. One thing we should try to do and want to try to do is to get music, entertainment and the arts going again. I know there has been a very negative reaction to the idea of using corona passes to get things going again but I hope people will not rule that out without giving it full consideration because it might actually be the pathway or the ticket to reopening live events such as live music without social distancing for people who are fully vaccinated, immune or maybe even tested. It might actually be the way we can reopen, not just in the Delta wave but also in future waves.

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