Seanad debates

Thursday, 16 July 2020

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Micheál CarrigyMicheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I echo the concerns many Senators have expressed about the pub industry following yesterday's announcement. Gastropubs, restaurants and supermarkets are all selling drink and adhering to social distancing rules. I do not see why that could not have been put in place. A number of local publicans near me have spent substantial money in the last week stocking up in preparation for next Monday. That this announcement was only made yesterday was wrong. The suppliers will need to give extra credit to these publicans who have stock sitting in their stores which cannot be sold.

Significant measures are needed, perhaps increasing the VAT registration threshold or reducing the VAT rate to the end of the year, in the July stimulus to ensure these pubs open in August and not left closed and then, as Senator Cummins said, used for turning back into accommodation. We want those businesses thriving and people kept employed in them. I ask for those concerns to be passed on.

My brief covers tourism and the hospitality sector. Many people in that sector are concerned that people coming from abroad may not have self-isolated for 14 days. I know the Minister, Deputy Coveney, spoke about this yesterday when he intimated there would be new controls.If somebody arrives into the country and comes down to a restaurant in Longford or Galway, for example, the business owner will wonder what country the person has come from, if it is a country from which people are allowed to come into Ireland and if the person has self-isolated. No procedures have been put in place around what business owners can do in these cases and whether or not they are allowed to ask these questions or if they can ask the person to leave the premises. The business owners have to look after their staff and the other customers. I ask that an amendment be made to the Fáilte Ireland guidelines to allow businesses to ask a patron where he or she has travelled from and if the person has self-isolated.

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