DUBLIN: Taoiseach has said that the government will continue to provide assistance to businesses that are suffering due to continuous lockdowns. Michéal Martin has said that support payments will continue to be made to businesses that are forced to close as the lockdown continues. The Taoiseach said the government was thinking of what can be done to help the hospitality sector to get out of COVID-19 while continuing the existing support.
The vaccination program will be completed within two months. After that, the government wants to reopen the economy. The government is extremely vigilant in this regard, which is why it has decided to maintain the Level 5 restrictions even after March 5. The government estimates that the virus can be controlled once the vaccination has been completed.
Mr. Martin said it is not possible to say when the hospitality sector, including hotels, pubs, cafes and restaurants, and personal services businesses like hairdressers would be able to reopen. “I don’t right now have a date to be honest with you,” he said. “I think we would have to have a critical mass of the population vaccinated,” Mr. Martin added.
“We had €5.5bn prepared as a contingency fund for COVID-19 — we did not anticipate that we would be using it so quickly or so extensively in the first number of months of this year but, as it transpired, we are.”
“In terms of hospitality, when we come out of Covid-19 — and we will come out of it — there will not be a magic day when you can say that is the end of Covid-19 and the beginning of a new era. We will evolve out of this — we will get more comfortable and confident as we vaccinate the population,” Mr. Martin said.
“We are going to have to help the hospitality sector to reboot and restart. We will have to look at new initiatives to help the hospitality sector as it emerges from Covid-19 because it has suffered more than most,” the Taoiseach said.
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