Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
583. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will examine matters raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied) on the impact Covid-19 is having on that person's business; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15478/21]
View answerI am aware of the issues faced by the tourism and hospitality industry, including businesses such as the one to which the Deputy is referring specifically. I understand the difficulties that COVID-19-related restrictions pose for couples on their special day and the impact on businesses servicing weddings. Nonetheless COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease, which spreads when individuals and groups come into close contact with one another, enabling the virus to move from one person to another. The current public health advice is that it is too early to say how and when other restrictions might be eased given current uncertainties.
In line with COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery Plan 2021 – The Path Ahead, the Government agreed that the public health restrictions will be subject to ongoing review taking account of the evolving epidemiological situation and available evidence in relation to vaccine deployment, uptake and effectiveness. Government will meet in advance of 5th of April to review the level of restrictions. The focus of the assessment, based on the public health advice, will be on achieving the following before any significant easing of measures is contemplated:
1. Disease prevalence (case numbers/incidence) is brought to much lower levels that can be managed and controlled by public health and that the reproduction number (“R” number) is such that we can be confident that we can continue to suppress the disease, e.g. at or below 1.
2. Hospital and critical care occupancy are reduced to low levels to protect the health service and allow for the safe resumption of non-COVID-19 care.
3. Ongoing and steady progress on the vaccination programme such that the most vulnerable are protected through vaccination.
4. Emerging information on variants of concern.
Any easing of measures should be slow and gradual with sufficient time between phases to assess impact and to respond if the epidemiological situation were to deteriorate.
In terms of supporting businesses through the ongoing pandemic, the Government has introduced a number of horizontal measures and the July Stimulus and Budget 2021 provided a significant package of tax and fiscal measures to build the resilience of the economy and help vulnerable but viable businesses across all sectors. Supports include the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), as well as ReStart grants and tax warehousing provisions.
