Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I too congratulate the Minister on her appointment. The sector has never faced a crisis of such magnitude, and we have been through a number of them. In the Minister's words, the devastation being experienced in the sector is unprecedented. I welcome the July stimulus package, which addresses some of the short-term measures required to keep our doors open in the coming off-season, but the sector believes that the rhetoric from the Government is just rhetoric and that the sector is not a primary focus of the Government moving forward. We will have an opportunity in the forthcoming national economic plan to address the concerns of the industry if we work together.

I will focus on two issues, the first of which relates to VAT. We need an open and frank discussion on VAT. A reduction in the rate is needed to secure a viable, sustainable and competitive future for the industry, to level the playing fields with our European competitors and to respond to the move last week by the UK Government to reduce its rate for the sector to 5%. The UK is our largest foreign market. We were already losing a significant portion of that trade because of Brexit and the decrease in the value of sterling.

The other issue relates to opening our airports and ferry ports to mandatory testing to give security to the people. Instant testing is being developed. We did it 19 years ago in the case of foot and mouth disease, when we washed every wheel of every vehicle that came into the country and everyone had to step in a disinfectant. If there is a will, there is a way, and we can open our ferry ports and airports safely through carrying out mandatory testing.