Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus déanaim comhghairdeas léi as ucht a post nua. Is dúshlán an-mhór é di. Má tá aon duine in ann an jab a dhéanamh, is í an tAire, an Teachta Martin, an duine sin. Nár laga Dia í agus í ag déanamh a dícheall an dúshlán seo a chomhlíonadh go croíúil agus go macánta. I officially invite the Minister to the Banner County. She can come as soon as she can when she is on her holidays. Senator Boyhan made a good point that while we are national politicians, we are from where we are from and we cannot help but care about our counties as well.

I will not waste any more time as the Minister knows about the devastating effects of Covid on tourism. She was aware before she came into the House about that, particularly concerning owner-occupied businesses. The July stimulus is good and will bring some hope.

I want to raise the issue, however, of seasonal workers. For many in the tourism industry, it is not a full-time job. What has happened in many places for thousands of people is that they were on the books in February but were not brought on the books in March because of Covid. As a result, they were not entitled to the Covid payment. Many of these workers, thousands of them, would have been working in the industry and in particular locations for 20 or 30 years. They were the friendly face of Ireland which tourists met. However, they fell out of this category for Covid payments. Will the Minister examine this?

I want to draw the Minister's attention to visitor attractions and music venues. Social distancing has been crippling for music venues and visitor attractions. I came up on the train this morning with a mask on and with hand sanitiser. I did not always have to be 2 m apart from people, however.