Hoteliers, publicans call for clear rules on vaccination and reopening

The hospitality sector has called for clear answers on how vaccination against the coronavirus is to be linked to reopening of businesses.

The sector is also seeking the retention of financial supports from Government to deal with debt and “a road map” as to how 270,000 workers in the industry might be sustainably reemployed.

Irish Hotels Federation president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane said the costs of reopening hotels could be significant and “the biggest measure of success” would be “to bring back 270,000 people to sustainable employment.

Ms Kane who is also a member of the Government’s Tourism Recovery Taskforce said many hotels were deep in debt due to the lockdown. She said financial supports would need to remain in place as strategies for long term viability were put in place with the aid of banks and Government. She also said businesses would need help in recruiting trained staff.

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Ms Kane was addressing an Oireachtas Committee where Noel Anderson, owner of Ballsbridge pub The Bridge 1859 and Lemon and Duke bar in Dublin City Centre revealed he had lost his head chef to an alternative career in carpentry, and the chefs replacement to a career as a lorry driver.

Ms Kane and Mr Anderson taking part in a “round table discussion” organised online by the Oireachtas Committee on Media, Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

Discussion

The chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins told the round table discussion that about 50 percent of the members of his association were facing ruin, and the sector needed “urgent action” including a plan for reopening “with indoor dining as our number one priority.

Mr Cummins rejected “the narrative of summer of outdoors” which he said “doesn’t work for restaurants”. He said current business supports do not go far enough and in addition to extending existing supports the industry needed a “restart grant for eight weeks”. The Commercial Rates waiver must be extended until the end of 2021 and the current VAT rate of 9percent must remain in place until 2025, he added.

Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) chief executive Pádraig Cribben said the industry needs a clear statement from government that all hospitality outlets “will be allowed open at the same time, under the same conditions and subject to the same sanctions. No more divides between food and non-food”.

Donal O’Keeffe chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) which represents pubs mainly in Dublin called on Government “to publicly communicate the circumstances that must apply to allow the full reopening of the hospitality sector”.

Mr O’Keeffe said the LVA appreciated that the Government could not as yet provide dates, but he asked what percentage of the adult population will need to be vaccinated to allow all pubs/hospitality businesses to reopen.

He also said the industry should be told what level of community transmission will need to apply to allow the sector reopen and if it was the case that hospitality businesses might only reopen for vaccinated customers.