Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To follow up on what Senator Higgins said, we want good people to get into politics. There are lots of reasons at the moment why people would not, such as social media and work-life balance. There are a million reasons. There are changes we can make to encourage people into politics, especially women. Senator Higgins spoke about maternity leave, which is an obvious one. Paternity leave is also an issue. The Minister has done an awful lot in that regard in her time with the Department of Social Protection and that makes a big difference, but it needs to be done for councillors in particular. Class A contributions must be addressed at some point in the lifetime of the Government and I would encourage the Minister to do that. Most people who start in politics do so at local authority level. That is now I started. It is about giving people an opportunity to see that it is a good career and that they can make a good contribution to their area and community, but they need support.

When it comes to support, decisions will need to be taken today that the Department must step up and support. The Minister has done this throughout the pandemic and I ask that she would do it straight away if the decisions we hear about in the media are going to be introduced. The situation is very distressing. I have been in contact today with restaurant owners, hoteliers and owners of pubs in Tipperary. They are worried that they will have to let their staff go two weeks before Christmas, and they will need support from the Department. The employers do not want to do it. There must be a happy medium between what NPHET advises and that the Cabinet decides and support must be provided to the sectors affected. There is talk of closing at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. The Minister for Finance must put together a package to support them straight away. We cannot just make these announcements and not provide support. There must be an understanding that if what we read this morning is going to happen, we must make sure the sector is supported. The past 18 months have been an absolute disaster. The feeling on the ground for the past two weeks is that things were going to be okay and that people must hold their nerve. It is devastating for people in Tipperary. I understand that, but we must make sure we support them during Christmas.