Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree that it will be difficult. I had an argument with the Minister on the night that Covid payments were introduced with regard to students and young people who work weekends or on a part-time basis. The Minister gave them €350. That was silly. Anybody who employs people now knows that personal public service number returns are done weekly. I am an employer. It would have been a simple exercise to find out what such people were earning, whether they worked a Saturday, a Sunday or a few nights in hotels and clubs and so on. The Minister would not do that and the Government gave them money. Many of them have saved the money they received. Now there are implications for Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, and many other things in the context of the payments made. Some of those who received the payment have spent it but some, although not many, are not interested in going back to work. Why would they go back to work? It is very difficult for employers to get people back.

Employers are in difficulty in terms of trying to function and keep their businesses going. Some businesses are half open and suffering uncertainty. Some of them will never get going again. Some of the employers whose businesses are open again have told me the custom just is not there. A lot of it has gone online, but it is not in shops and the various businesses to which I am referring, never mind taxis and many other sectors, such as musicians and those involved in the arts, who have just been wiped off the face of the earth. They will need ongoing supports. If the Government had been prudent and sensible in the context of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, in the first place, we may not be in such chaos now. I know it all has to be paid back. It is a serious situation.

I spoke to Caoimhe Kavanagh of Kavanaghs of Urlingford last week and met her on Sunday morning. They went for this so-called rocket take-off in the context of our outdoor summer and marketed it to the Irish people. I met a busload of 25 people on a big luxury coach at Kavanaghs of Urlingford on Sunday morning. They were so delighted to be getting out and to alight from the bus in Urlingford, get some refreshments and to go on then to various sites. All the Office of Public Works, OPW, sites are refusing to take the bus tour even though it is operating at half capacity. They will take people if they are registered in twos. These sites are prepared to have 12 or 13 cars at the site rather than one bus. That makes no sense whatsoever. It is time that officials dusted themselves down and got back to work because we need these people. They have 500 bed nights booked in Ballina, Deputy Calleary's area. Caoimhe Kavanagh was speaking to him as well. If we cannot get OPW sites open, it is madness. They are being very careful regarding Covid. The buses are restricted and partitions are in place. Some sites do not even have facilities, such as toilets, open. This is shocking. Is the Government interested in getting people back to work? I am not talking about a sky rocket like the Tánaiste suggested, but certainly getting back to some bit of normality. There are bigger issues here, and many of them, to be teased out.

See this speech in context