Departmental Offices
Dail Éireann — 2021-07-14
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

On Deputy O'Reilly's points, the Government is very focused on skills, reskilling and investing in human capital. That applies to HGV drivers and the road haulage sector as well. I have no doubt the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and others will engage with the sector if we have to develop modules or fast-track the process to ensure we have sufficient supply of drivers.
On Deputy Boyd Barrett's points, he has acknowledged the Government recently responded with a package for taxi drivers, although he thinks it insufficient. We have continued to support them through a variety of means. There was €3 million provided for the continued waiving of vehicle licence fees in 2022, €2 million for the once-off motor tax refund scheme and €1.5 million for an national car test, NCT, refund scheme. In addition to supports for the small public service vehicle, SPSV, industry, the Government maintained a wide-ranging programme of supports with broad eligibility criteria for individuals and businesses.
We have extended these schemes. We have also kept specific sub-sectors of the economy under constant review. The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, has provided a range of supports to artists and the music and entertainment sector. We know those sectors have suffered the most during the pandemic.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:32+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-07-14