Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----rather than saying we are not doing enough here maybe to do the same in Northern Ireland. That might help to take away some of the arguments for a better scheme here south of the Border.

On the tips Bill, the intention is we will have transparency on service charges. Restaurants or anybody imposing a service charge will have to say what is done with it and whether it goes to staff or elsewhere. When it comes to tips or gratuities they will go to staff and cannot be used to make up wages.

On the issue of pay, generally speaking pay across the Irish economy has been rising for many years and rising ahead of inflation. We do not know whether this will be the case this year. Inflation is running at approximately 5%. There are some indications that in the round, and this is not the case for everyone of course, we will see pay increases of between 5% and 7% this year, which is significant. The claim that Ireland is a low-pay economy is a little misleading. If we look at our minimum wage and compare like with like it is one of the highest in the world. Compare what a nurse in Ireland is paid to the pay in Britain or elsewhere in Europe. For gardaí, doctors, cleaners or construction workers generally speaking our pay rates are at the higher level when compared with other countries in Europe and around the world. Yes, if we adjust it for cost of living it does not look so good because the cost of living in Ireland is high. If we then adjust it for personal taxes, which are relatively low in Ireland, it looks a bit better. To say we are a low-pay economy only stacks up based on relativities. This is not because we are a low-pay economy. It is because we have many people on high pay, generally working in multinationals, and this distorts the picture. The claim that Ireland is a low-pay economy is misleading. When we compare like for like it is really not the case.

On the EU minimum wage directive, the Government is broadly supportive of the current text. There have been some changes made that have largely allayed our concerns.

On the issue of vaccine equity and global vaccine justice, I want to state for the record the Government is a very strong supporter of vaccine equity in the world. Morally we need to make sure the world is vaccinated. How did we defeat smallpox and polio? We did not do it in one country, we did it on an international basis. This is what we need to do with Covid also. It is also in our interests to do so. Any country that is not fully vaccinated is a reservoir for potential reinfection. It is the right thing to do even from a self-interest point of view. What is the evidence for this? We have donated 2 million vaccines to other countries. They have already arrived in Uganda and Nigeria. Irish people have been enormously generous through the UNICEF campaign to get a vaccine donate a vaccine. I did it myself. We are contributing to COVAX. The Department and I have consistently opposed export bans. Other countries that have been a little bit preachy recently, such the United States and other European countries, supported export bans. They would not allow vaccines to be exported from their countries.We were always opposed to export bans. Through our aid programmes we are helping in practical ways with refrigeration, distribution, administration and regulation because all those things are necessary in a vaccine programme. I agree that Western governments need to do much more.

We need to remember this is a European competence and not an Irish competence. As part of the European Union, we are very strong advocates of what is called compulsory licensing, which allows governments to license the production of vaccines on a generic basis, whether the pharmaceutical companies like it or not. It could be very useful for countries like South Africa and India, which have vaccine-making capacity, to be allowed to license the production of those vaccines in the plants in their countries, irrespective of whether those companies like it. That is what we, the European Union, support and advocate.

I have an open mind on the alternative suggestion of a TRIPS waiver. I have always said that if we receive a WTO proposal in writing, we will look at it. That has not happened yet. I met the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, and said we would happily look at a proposal if one lands; it has not yet. I believe it is being somewhat misrepresented as a panacea and a bit of a magic wand. The truth is that a TRIPS waiver will not result in a single vaccine plant being built in Mali, Mauritania or Malawi this year, next year or the year after. It takes two or three years to build a vaccine plant which then needs to be staffed and quality controlled.

What is needed is capacity, know-how, qualified scientists and technicians, capital, and experienced medicine and safety regulators. All those things are needed to get the vaccine from the lab into people's arms. That is why it is better to have governments and pharmaceutical companies working together to find a solution rather than trying to create conflicts and turn one against the other. I do not think that is the right approach.

We need a global solution that is comprehensive, intelligent, workable and that does not disincentivise innovation. We will be asking these companies to produce the vaccines against the variants. Therefore, we do not want to disincentivise innovation. Picking up on Senator Ward's remarks, I hope that when we have a debate on these things, it can be a reasoned and factual one. We should not need to question each other's motivations or bona fides, which demeans us all.

I very much agree with what Senators had to say about the arts sector in this debate. Yesterday's meeting with representatives of the sector was a very difficult one. We were greeted with more of a sense of dismay than anger, a sense that certain sectors, including the arts and entertainment sector, have faced one of the longest lockdowns in the world, uncertainty about what will happen next spring and summer, and a feeling that they have been left behind and may be sacrificed to save other sectors in the economy. As I said to them yesterday, when it comes to the hospitality sector, arts, events and entertainment are not to blame in any way for the pandemic; the virus is to blame.

It just so happens that this virus transmits in settings where many people are gathered. Unlike education, healthcare, childcare, food production and manufacturing, these are sectors that public health officials describe as being discretionary activities and therefore can be closed. In many ways they are sectors that are now taking the hit to protect the rest of society. That is why we have a moral obligation to protect them financially and to ensure they can survive and come through the other side.

I find the term "discretionary activity" very hard to stomach because to me and many other people in this House, life without music, sport, comedy, drama, nightlife and festivals, is not a life worth living in the long term because it is culture and sport that makes us human. It makes us feel that we belong and allows us to express ourselves. It allows us to escape, something we really need to do from time to time. It allows us to explore and to engage with people with whom we would otherwise never engage.

We really need to get these sectors open as soon as it is possible and safe in the new year. That may involve testing, ventilation or other things we have not thought about in the past. If capacity is restricted, as it may well be throughout the course of the winter, we need to put in place subsidies to allow performances to go ahead even if that means paying half the ticket price or something like that. Representatives of the sector have told me that if a venue can accommodate 100 people standing, it will only fit 30 sitting down, which is just not viable. We need to consider subsidies and financial supports to at least allow these sectors to operate and people to practise their art. People need to enjoy art and culture again in the new year because it has been far too long.

I again thank Senators for their comments.