Covid-19 Pandemic Supports Seanad Éireann — 2021-07-06 ============================================================ Anne Rabbitte (FF), Galway East I thank Senator Crowe for tabling this Commencement matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Troy. However, I wish to make a few points before I give the Senator the Minister of State's response. Last week was not just a low point for people in the business, it was a low point for the country. Everybody was looking forward to the reopening taking place on 5 July. I am also aware that one week in July is equivalent to November, as the Senator correctly stated. However, there are positives. One of them is the current position of 50% of adults being vaccinated. The Senator is right that the situation cannot remain as it is. I acknowledge the work the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and his team are doing and the Minister's agile approach. Last Friday, the twin-track approach was announced for the vaccination programme. Not only will there be an age approach, but there will also be a bottom-up approach that includes the youth. The youth have been held back for far too long, so this is absolutely welcome. It is a multifaceted approach within all Departments, including the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Health. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Ossian Smyth, met with the hospitality sector last week to discuss the issue of indoor hospitality. Since then, officials from Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of the Taoiseach have set up a working group and met with the sector again to discuss a way forward. In addition, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's small business assistance scheme for Covid, SBASC, provided €908,000 to 227 businesses in the food and accommodation sector in phase 1 and 25 grant applications, for a total value of €93,000, have been received in phase 2. The closing date for phase 2 is 21 July. This is a scheme that many businesses do not realise is available. It is available through their county councils. It is a fantastic scheme if one is unable to avail of the CRSS. The Government wants to find practical, workable solutions to enable hospitality to reopen and stay open throughout future waves of this pandemic. I hope I have addressed some of Senator Crowe's questions. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-07-06/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:29+00:00 Sitting date: 2021-07-06