Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Today is World Blood Donor Day. I salute all the people who work in the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, who have been working right through the pandemic, making an unstinting commitment. I also salute the thousands of volunteers who give blood regularly and not so regularly. On this day, I encourage those who might not have given blood for a long time to consider doing so. If there are those who are in a position to donate and have not done so to give it a try because it saves lives.

The hospitality industry is open and, hopefully, indoor dining in restaurants will begin in July. That is fantastic news. We are all very excited about it and welcome it but there is a serious problem with restaurants in this country in the context of their ability to retain chefs. I have spoken to a number of restaurant owners over the past few days who are finding it extremely difficult to hire chefs. I spoke this morning to Adrian Cummins, the CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland. He has explained to me that this is a problem countrywide. Many chefs who were in this country before the pandemic have gone home to their own countries. Therefore, we need a three-pronged approach to dealing with this. First, we need a long-term solution, namely, a certificate-type scheme to train chefs in this country. This is badly needed because we certainly have a massive shortage.Second, we need an approach from our embassies around the world to identify and promote Ireland and its hospitality industry to potential people who may consider locating here. The wages for chefs are particularly attractive because of this shortage.

Third, as an immediate short-term measure, we need to look at lifting the visa restrictions for countries, such as Turkey, where there is a surplus of chefs. There are restaurants which, unfortunately, will not be able to open in July because they will not have chefs. It would be most welcome if the Leader could organise a debate on this issue, and more importantly, if she could communicate these concerns to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.