Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will briefly raise the issue of communions and confirmations that have been cancelled. One of the Deputies speaking earlier alluded to the appropriateness or otherwise of compensation for the church. I am not certain if I agree with him on that but there are parents who have put themselves to a considerable amount of expense. They have bought clothes, as is necessary for the ceremony for their children. They will not be able to get their money back. As we know, children grow and will not be able to use those clothes again.

Some thought needs to be given to the off-the-cuff remarks made by the Tánaiste and the very real impact they have on families. The suggestion now is that these sacraments would have proceeded if the question had not been asked. I do not know if that is true but I do know that families are really struggling and this is a real blow to them. As there are two Ministers in the House, I ask them both to give some consideration to what can be done for these families because they find that, through no fault of their own, they have gone to considerable expense. Many of them live in my area where a communion ceremony was due to take place on Saturday. What will they do now? They will not be able to get their money back and they are seriously out of pocket. As well as the disappointment for the children and their families and all that involves, they cannot understand how one sacrament, a wedding, can go ahead while other sacraments cannot. Perhaps the Government can explain that issue to the people affected. I am not saying the decision was right or wrong. I am simply asking that the Government consider the impact of the glib off-the-cuff remark made by the Tánaiste.

I welcome the business resumption supports. They will be very important but there is still a great deal that is absent. Certain sectors, such as aviation, tourism, hospitality and parts of retail, are devastated and on their knees. I will focus briefly on retail. We have seen the loss of jobs in Arcadia, Carphone Warehouse, Debenhams and, most recently, Gap. Mandate trade union has called for a forum on the future of retail. When asked about it the Tánaiste shrugged his shoulders and said retail was changing. I am asking him not to give up on the retail sector and not to shrug his shoulders or simply say people are shopping online now and that is it. Mandate's proposal for a forum on the future of retail to protect jobs is very worthwhile and I urge the Tánaiste to consider it.

On aviation, 480 jobs have been lost in Stobart Air. This will be the third time I have asked a member of the Government to appoint a person from the Department of Social Protection to deal directly with these people. They are at a complete loss having lost their jobs and they need some supports. At the third time of asking, please make this appointment.

The 180,000 jobs in the hospitality and tourism sector depend on a plan. I ask that the plan be published and some certainty given because many retailers and many of those involved in hospitality and tourism have purchased what they needed from wholesalers to get them through because they thought they would be reopening. They now find themselves out of pocket for those purchases. Many of them are down to their last shilling, as the Government knows. Bespoke packages most be provided for the sectors most affected, namely, aviation, tourism, hospitality and parts of retail.

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