Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State mentioned chefs. Some 88% of respondents to the survey referenced by the Minister of State said they had considerable difficulty in recruiting chefs. We must consider the fact that 42% of workers who were working in the tourism and hospitality sector pre-pandemic, and who received PUP as a consequence, did not return to the industry. There are 40,000 vacancies in the sector. We pride ourselves in being Ireland of the welcomes. Tourism is a people-focused and a people-led experience. Until we can fill that gap, that experience will be diminished. I have often made the point that there was an organisation called CERT that was specifically focused on hospitality, tourism, and training chefs and hospitality staff. We need to go back to that organisation. I must say that I commend Fáilte Ireland. The survey is an excellent piece of work and research. It highlights the challenges that we face. The survey also found that in summer 2021, one third of hospitality workers were new to the industry. That figure will probably be even higher this summer. We need a strategy in place. It is too late for summer 2022 but we need to give guarantees to employers for summer 2023.

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