I meet with representatives of the tourism and hospitality sectors regularly and I am well aware of the challenges faced by the sectors. In addition, to provide a platform for structured engagement between the Hospitality and Tourism sectors, the tourism agencies and relevant Government Departments in order to assess the continuing impact of the pandemic, last October, the Tánaiste and I established the Hospitality and Tourism
Forum. The forum helps to improve understanding and responses to the crisis and to discuss ideas for recovery measures, thus assisting the Government in formulating its on-going response to the crisis. The forum has met three times to date and is scheduled to meet for the fourth time next month where reopening and recovery will be the main agenda items.