Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not unrecognised that there were significant but inadequate supports for instance the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS. I heard a quote from a colleague of mine in New Ross, who was a former colleague of the House, Mr. Seán Connick, who is the CEO of the Dunbrody Famine Ship experience in new Ross. At the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media during a debate in which they were discussing the development of tourism, the TBESS, for which he had applied on a bill that was in excess of €15,000, the refund was approximately €3,600, which leaves them with a bill of €11,400 in excess of the funds that they have and which they need to find. The reality is that we are still recovering from Covid and particularly in rural Ireland attractions. That is not to say that the supports were not welcome; they were. Given what has happened in the interim, and with the war and the impact it is having, the recovery is just not quick enough. This year it will be delayed further. I ask the Minister to be the advocate for those small indigenous sectors in rural Ireland.

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