Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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22. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason there is now a public health risk in allowing customers to collect goods from non-essential retailers, given that it was not a risk in the last level 5 lockdown, in view of the fact this ban will have a disproportionately negative effect on smaller family-run retailers; if consideration will be given to reversing the ban on non-essential retailers operating a click and collect or call and collect service in order to help them survive the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2537/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. Further information can be found on . The decision to move to full scale Level 5 was not taken lightly and all factors were considered. The restrictions are in place for a period of at least one month from 31 December 2020.

S.I. No. 701 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 and S.I. No. 4 of 2021 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 10) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 () clearly sets out the temporary restrictions under Level 5. A list of essential services can be found at and the list of essential retail outlets at Level 5 can be found at

Level 5 does not restrict people from purchasing any product, it does however restrict people from physically going into non-essential stores. This is to stop people making unnecessary journeys, congregating and browsing for non-essential goods, to limit the spread of the virus.

Under the current temporary restrictions click and collect from non-essential retail outlets is no longer permitted. Click or phone and deliver will continue.

We are asking retailers to fully get behind the spirit of the regulations. In particular, we are asking retailers with mixed retail offering which have discrete spaces for essential and non-essential retail to make arrangements for the separation of relevant areas. We are also asking retailers to operate staggered opening and closing hours, as well as facilitating starting and finishing hours, in order to minimise the impact on public transport and to continue to provide dedicated hours for vulnerable customers.

My colleague Minister English has met regularly with Retail Forum members and representatives from the retail grocery and distribution sector to continuously assess adherence to the public health restrictions.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) ‘The Work Safely Protocol’ incorporates the current advice on the Public Health measures needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community and workplaces. The Protocol is available on www.gov.ie. The HSA is the lead agency in overseeing compliance with the Protocol in the workplace. If employers or employees need further guidance on the Protocol, the HSA Helpline can be contacted at 1890 289 389 or wcu@hsa.ie.

In addition, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) have also produced two guidance documents, one for the retail Sector and one for Shopping Centres. Both documents can be found on www.nsai.ie.

I would like to thank retailers and their customers for their efforts at this difficult time. By each of us following the spirit of these new rules and working together we can hopefully return to a lower level of the Living with COVID-19 framework.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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23. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many businesses selling both essential and non-essential items have not sealed off sections of their premises where non-essential items are sold, allowing customers to browse these areas; his plans to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2591/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. Further information can be found on

S.I. No. 701 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 and S.I. No. 4 of 2021 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 10) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 () clearly sets out the temporary restrictions under Level 5. A list of essential services can be found at and the list of essential retail outlets at Level 5 can be found at

Level 5 does not restrict people from purchasing any product, it does however restrict people from physically going into non-essential stores. This is to stop people making unnecessary journeys, congregating and browsing for non-essential goods, to limit the spread of the virus.

Under the current temporary restrictions click and collect from non-essential retail outlets is no longer permitted. Click or phone and deliver will continue.

We are asking retailers to fully get behind the spirit of the regulations. In particular, we are asking retailers with mixed retail offering which have discrete spaces for essential and non-essential retail to make arrangements for the separation of relevant areas. We are also asking retailers to operate staggered opening and closing hours, as well as facilitating starting and finishing hours, in order to minimise the impact on public transport and to continue to provide dedicated hours for vulnerable customers.

My colleague Minister English has met regularly with Retail Forum members and representatives from the retail grocery and distribution sector to continuously assess adherence to the public health restrictions.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) ‘The Work Safely Protocol’ incorporates the current advice on the Public Health measures needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community and workplaces. The Protocol is available on www.gov.ie. The HSA is the lead agency in overseeing compliance with the Protocol in the workplace. If employers or employees need further guidance on the Protocol, the HSA Helpline can be contacted at 1890 289 389 or wcu@hsa.ie.

In addition, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) have also produced two guidance documents, one for the retail Sector and one for Shopping Centres. Both documents can be found on www.nsai.ie.

I would like to thank retailers and their customers for their efforts at this difficult time. By each of us following the spirit of these new rules and working together we can hopefully return to a lower level of the Living with COVID-19 framework.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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24. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the impact of Covid-19-induced economic disruption on both the domestic and multinational sectors; and his views on whether domestic sector and employment within it will be disproportionately impacted by the economic dynamics of the crisis. [2609/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The economic disruption wrought by COVID-19 has been widespread across all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country. Using the latest quarterly national accounts data from the CSO, the Arts and Entertainment sector was identified as the sector most affected by COVID-19 related disruption, followed by the Professional, Admin and Support Services Sector and the Construction Sector. The areas of the economy that fared best included the Information and Communications Sector and the Manufacturing Sector, which tend to be dominated by foreign owned multinational enterprises.

The resilience of the multinational sector and its importance to the Irish economy is highlighted by the fact employment in IDA Ireland client companies actually increased by almost 9,000 in the year to September 2020, highlighting the resilience of these multinational enterprises and the important role these firms play in the Irish economy.

Many sectors of the domestic economy have been particularly hard hit with widespread job losses. In January 2021, the sector with the highest levels of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment was Accommodation and Food Service Activities, followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade.

The domestic sector, and employment within the sector, has been most impacted by COVID-19 disruption. The Government has introduced the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Employment Wage Support Scheme (EWSS) to aid employees.

To help businesses to adjust to the challenges of the pandemic and ensure they are in a position to benefit once the economy re-opens, several schemes have been introduced, including loans, grants, vouchers, training and mentoring programmes. Small and medium firms are the biggest source of employment in the Irish economy and the Government will continue to support these businesses as they will be a crucial element of Ireland's recovery.