Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address the House on this matter this evening. As he is aware, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, was unable to attend and asked me to stand in on her behalf. I want to start by acknowledging on a personal level that the challenges being faced by our hospitality and entertainment sectors, both currently and over the previous months, are severe. It is a difficult time for many, particularly those working in these industries. As a Government, we recognise the difficulties and are doing everything we can to support these important industries. While the ongoing public health situation is continually evolving and a recent deterioration saw the introduction last week of a requirement for Covid-19 passes for cinemas and theatres, as well as a midnight closing time for all on-licensed premises, we are optimistic these measures will allow businesses to keep operating and keep people at work.

Throughout the pandemic, the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment have been actively working with the tourism and hospitality sector to ensure it is properly supported. The significant additional funding secured for tourism services in budget 2022 will help to address immediate survival-related concerns while also enabling further resilience and recovery across the industry as we reopen to international tourism and transition to a more sustainable future. The Deputy referred to the situation for the domestic tourism sector by instancing the case of a single restaurant having nearly 2,400 cancellations. That is a phenomenal blow to any business. The funding for tourism in budget 2022, amounting to €288.5 million, represents an increase of €67.6 million over the 2021 allocation. It includes €50 million for further tourism business continuity supports to assist strategic tourism businesses with their survival and recovery. The 2022 funding is in addition to the €55 million in tourism business continuity supports that were made available this year. By the end of the year, hundreds of tourism businesses will have received vital funding to help them survive the impacts of the pandemic and hundreds more will again receive support in the coming year. In addition, a further €35 million increase in the tourism marketing fund has been secured in 2022 to enable Tourism Ireland to support the delivery of a marketing strategy to restore inbound tourism to Ireland. A sum of €36.5 million is also being provided in capital funding for tourism product development for the delivery of enhanced visitor experiences, in line with the objectives of the national development plan.

The supports for tourism also include a range of cross-government measures to assist the sector.

Tourism enterprises continue to benefit from measures such as the continuation of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS. Every hotelier and person operating restaurants whom I have met has said to me that the scheme was a lifeline for their business over the previous months. It kept employees connected to the business. It helped them to be able to continue. Some of them mentioned the rates rebates they received when they were closed as a key factor for those who had a rateable premises. The tax warehousing for commercial rates and the 9% VAT rate for hospitality remain in place until September 2022.

We also had a number of other programmes in place, such as the €25 million live performance support scheme, the €16 million events sector Covid-19 support scheme, the €10 million local private performance support scheme, the €4 million music and entertainment support scheme, the €5 million commercial entertainment capital grant and the €1 million provided for the St. Patrick's Day festival. There are no certainties with this virus, but the Government will continue to engage with stakeholders in a positive way to ensure the relevant concerns are addressed in the decision-making process. The Government wants to continue to support this sector and ensure it is given the opportunity to thrive again.

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