Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important subject because tourism is a vital indigenous economic sector. In 2019, before the pandemic had wrought its effects on society, tourism was worth more than €9 billion to our economy through visits from overseas tourists and the fares they generated and domestic tourism. It supported 260,000 jobs throughout the country. Tourism is a unique sector in that it supports jobs in remote rural areas and bustling city centres. Nevertheless, it is a fact that it is particularly important for many areas across the regions that do not have many, or any, alternative options for employment and income. Since the advent of Covid-19 and the consequential and necessary public health measures, many of these jobs have been lost or are surviving with State support and income from the sector is a fraction of what it was in 2019.

Helping our tourism sector to survive and be in a position to recover when the circumstances allow is a key issue for the Government. An industry-led tourism recovery task force presented the Tourism Recovery Plan 2020-2023 to the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, on 30 September 2020. The plan contains a number of recommendations to help tourism businesses to survive, stabilise and recover from the pandemic. It has been a hugely helpful input for the Minister and her colleagues in Government in identifying appropriate measures to assist the sector both to survive the pandemic and subsequently recover.

Good progress has been made in introducing the following tourism-specific measures. There was a record level of funding allocated to tourism overall this year, which is an increase of €59 million on the 2020 allocation. Based on this allocation, a €55 million business continuity scheme was launched on 1 February by Fáilte Ireland to help strategic tourism business survive the pandemic and drive recovery. The scheme will contribute to the fixed costs of identified tourism businesses that are not eligible for the CRSS to support their survival. It will provide an equitable level of payment to CRSS for qualifying businesses and the first phase that was launched on 1 February will cover businesses such as tourism attractions, activity providers and caravan and camping sites.Two separate funds of €10 million each were introduced for coach tourism operators and the Ireland-based inbound agents business continuity scheme in the last quarter of 2020 with €8 million made available under the restart grant for bed and breakfasts. Funding of €5 million has been provided for upskilling training and to improve digital presence, along with a €26 million adaptation fund for the tourism sector to adapt premises to meet Covid-19 safety requirements. As well as these direct supports, the VAT rate for the sector was reduced to 9% to help improve competitiveness and business viability. This week the Covid-19 business aid scheme, CBAS, will be launched. That is for businesses locked out of the CRSS payment.

Survival is the first part of the Government's response for tourism. Recovery must come next and we will continue to keep all options open to support the recovery. A recovery oversight group has been appointed to oversee the implementation of the recovery plan. It presented its first report to the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, two weeks ago. Its findings were taken on board as part of finalising the path ahead for our new Covid-19 plan. The group will continue to report as the situation evolves and the Minister will continue to engage with the stakeholders to ensure she is fully apprised of the challenges they face. This engagement will continue next week when the hospitality and tourism forum will meet again. It will be co-chaired by the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

The Government is fully aware of the significant challenges facing both the tourism and hospitality sectors. We will continue to work to ensure the sector emerges from the pandemic and shows the resilience it has in the past to recover in a meaningful and sustainable way.