Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome. I thank her for the opportunity for Senators to discuss the impact Covid-19 has had on the tourism and hospitality industry.

The importance tourism has for our economy can never be overstated. It played a major role in our recovery following the crash, driving job creation, particularly in rural and regional areas, and directly contributing 260,000 jobs in 2019, 11% of the total employment figure. It provided numerous job opportunities, particularly in rural areas away from the main cities where there was limited employment. Some 70% of tourism jobs are located outside Dublin. Tourism has been one of the most directly affected sectors due to Covid, with over 200,000 job losses, the loss of €5 billion in spend from international tourist visitors and a large drop in the €2.4 billion spend by the domestic tourist. Last year was a virtual write-off, apart from the staycation period, 2021 is looking similar and it looks like 2022 before businesses will start to recover. However, before any business can recover, it must survive.

I welcome the range of support measures that have been introduced, including the cancellation of rates, wages subsidy schemes, restart grants, tax warehousing, and the Covid restrictions support scheme, and I concur with the comments made by a number of Senators regarding the Minister, the Department and the supports that have been put in place. It is significant, but it is enough? The answer is "No". The hospitality and tourism sectors need certainty and clarity in uncertain times.

I note the Minister's comments on the lack of a specific unit for training and apprenticeships and the fact the programme has been put in there by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris. Is it time we created a specific unit? I do not think SOLAS has expertise in that area.

Tomorrow, the joint Oireachtas committee will meet with the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation, the Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners Federation of Ireland. The hospitality sector is the lifeblood or many rural and regional economies and, without its recovery, many of our regions will not recover. I welcome the introduction of the VAT rate which is due to end in December 2021. However, we need to send out a strong signal of support to the industry by stating that we will extend it throughout 2022. This measure helped build confidence and gave rise to a large number of the jobs that were created in the sector and to the number of international visitors who came here pre Covid and post the economic crash of the 2000s. I see directly the impact in my county where Center Parcs, which employs more than 1,000 staff, has been closed for a significant portion of the past year. As chairman of County Longford tourism, I am confident we can rebuild the sector. I acknowledge phase 1 of the tourism business continuity scheme, which closed recently, and phase 2, which will focus on supporting internal strategic tourism transport providers to access financial supports.

I am encouraged by the numbers who have registered for Meitheal, our largest tourism trade event: 500-plus Irish businesses and, importantly, over 230 international buyers will attend virtually. Fáilte Ireland has done an excellent job in supporting businesses during the pandemic. I compliment Paul Kelly and his team and, in particular, to Paddy Matthews and his Ireland's Hidden Heartlands team, who were performing ahead of target prior to Covid in terms of visitor numbers to the area.

I welcome the recent launch of the Shannon tourism master plan, which involves Waterways Ireland and ten local authorities. It involves a €75 million investment over the next ten years to unlock the potential of the River Shannon and Lough Ree and the potential development of the boglands.It will help to transform the region and deliver a better spread of tourism and visitor activity in the region. This Wednesday will see the launch of the Royal Canal greenway from Maynooth to Clondara along the River Shannon in Longford, creating the longest greenway in Ireland. I am delighted to see this happen because I have been involved with it since 2013 when we started to develop the section in Longford.

There are a number of issues of concern, however. Fáilte Ireland recently released an outdoor dining scheme to support businesses during the summer months in key tourism destinations. I believe that all areas bar none should be entitled to participate in this scheme and not just the limited number that have been put forward. I am in favour of the vaccine passport to allow travel and in turn to allow a number of businesses to open up and to allow them to survive before they are no longer in a position to recover. I am against a two-tier system for reopening our hospitality sector as happened last year. All should open together under strict guidelines. There should be no difference between dry pubs, wet pubs or restaurants and hotels serving food and drink. While these businesses are closed, we have allowed the large multiples to advertise and sell drink at below cost. We need only look at the national newspapers every weekend and, in the days leading up to each bank holiday, when there are full page advertisements for cheap drink. We are making it cheap to get drunk and we have allowed an underage drinking culture to develop. A minimum price alcohol Bill needs to be introduced for the health and well-being of our younger generation and for the future of the hospitality industry.

Is there a representative from the pub or restaurant sector on the tourism recovery oversight group or on the boards of Fáilte Ireland or Tourism Ireland? The stay and spend scheme, or an amended version, needs to be put in place for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

We must all play our part in holidaying in our own country and supporting our own economy. As a boost, we must give commitments to the industry that the supports and finances are in place to help Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to restart, rebuild and ultimately to redesign demand to support the recovery of our overseas tourism and to drive business development throughout the country.