Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have the floor now. The language the Senator used was disgraceful and totally unbecoming to this Chamber, whose Members have always been very honourable and have conducted their business with dignity and respect. Quoting history and using the type of language the Senator used is totally appalling. I welcome the Minister to the House and I am sorry he had to put up with that tirade but such is life.

None of us want this Bill; of course we do not. We want to see a normal society where hospitality operates as normal but, unfortunately, we have had a pandemic, as a result of which more than 5,000 of our citizens have lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands of people have got sick with Covid. Thankfully, many of them have recovered but there are people who are suffering from long Covid and who have life-changing injuries and conditions as a result. We have to tread cautiously. We all want to see hospitality open but we want to protect as many people as we possibly can from contracting Covid. We are in the midst of what will be a significant fourth wave involving the Delta variant. What is being done in trying to allow hospitality to open in safe way while at the same time ensuring as many people as possible are protected is a fine line. I have no doubt that this Bill will not get everything right but, to be fair, it is a very good stab at getting the hundreds of thousands of people in hospitality back to work.

I represent County Clare and, as the Minster knows, it is heavily reliant on the tourism industry. In Clare, there are peak visitors for about two to three months of the year. August is a particularly busy time as it usually when occupancy rates in our hotels are nearly 100%. Restaurants, bars and various other hospitality venues are very busy during the months of July and August. We have lost July at this stage. People are making as much as they can out of outside dining. Many people have spent a lot of money to facilitate outdoor hospitality but many venues and businesses are just not in a position to offer that.

We have a responsibility as a Government to facilitate the opening of those businesses and to do so in a safe way. Facilitating people who are fully vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid with the digital certificate is probably the best we can do. From talking to people I know that many will not avail of indoor hospitality because they are still nervous and concerned. Even with businesses opening on 26 July, I suspect many citizens will not take up the opportunity for inside dining. I have been in the Oireachtas for ten years and we have never been in a situation where, on the last day of term, we were bringing legislation through to facilitate the opening of restaurants, bars and so on but that is just life.Two years ago, nobody had heard of Covid.

I believe we need a strategy for long Covid. More and more people are suffering from long Covid. The conditions from which they suffer range from lack of taste to inability to smell and many other conditions, so we need to look at putting a plan in place to address this and support those with long Covid. Will the Minister come back to us and outline what the Department plans to do in terms of supporting people with long Covid?

This legislation is regrettable but necessary. I wish the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the hospitality industry the very best with the long overdue reopening. I wish them every success and hope people support indoor dining and the hospitality industry as best they can and, most importantly, for the owners and operators of pubs and restaurants, do everything as safely as possible.