Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement made a few minutes ago by the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, about a €50 million tourism business continuity programme, which is to help tourism businesses throughout 2022. The programme is going to support strategic tourism, transport businesses, Irish-based inbound agents, attractions and activity providers, and tourism accommodation providers. It will build on a five-phase €55 million tourism business continuity scheme that was administered by Fáilte Ireland in 2021 and will be again next year. This is a very significant scheme for all of those businesses that have been impacted by the travel restrictions.

Yesterday when the Tánaiste was in the Chamber, I was contacted by numerous businesses across Tipperary. I brought the suggestion to the floor yesterday when the Tánaiste was here that we should reintroduce this scheme which was very successful in 2021. The businesses in Tipperary I have been speaking to have lost over 90% of their business in 2021. All the calls they are receiving now over recent weeks, since the decisions we have made in terms of travel restrictions, have been about cancellations and tours that are going to be cancelled. The restrictions we have made on hospitality have an end date of 9 January, which we hope will be met. However, I refer to the tourism sector, inbound tourism and operators who work on the basis of that.There is no end date whatsoever. They have no idea when this will end. There was an air of confidence in September and October that next year, 2022, was going to be a good year for tourism, but that is completely gone now. It is very important that the Government acts quickly to help the sector get over 2022. All of the measures, including this €50 million for tourism, are about helping that sector to survive, whether it is small businesses in Cahir or Clonmel, or right across the State.