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THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD change the two-metre social distancing requirements to one metre in order to help businesses function, business lobby group Ibec has said.
The CEO of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec), Danny McCoy, has also asked the government to remove the 14-day quarantine in place for people entering the country from abroad.
McCoy said “significant measures” are required to protect the livelihoods of people in Ireland.
The Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response has today heard from a number of key speakers, including Enterprise Ireland and Chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), Neil McDonnell.
McDonnell said that SMEs have been a “blindspot” for the government as it has been “fixated” on multinational companies.
SMEs (small to medium enterprises) make up almost half of all business revenue in Ireland, while also accounting for 40% of employment.
The CEO of IBEC, Danny McCoy, has asked for the 2 metre social distancing rule to be replaced by a 1 metre distance. McCoy is speaking this afternoon before the Oireachtas Covid-19 Committee pic.twitter.com/5AmdddKfGZ
McDonnell accused the government of being fixated with multinational companies, and said that small to medium businesses, “continue to be a blindspot for government”.
“Their perception is that big business is good, small business is bad,” he said.
This is not merely anecdotal. I have personally heard it said to me by a senior trade union official and by a senior civil servant, that the lower tax credit available to the self-employed, and the USC surcharge imposed on high-income self-employed are justified by their ability to fiddle expenses.
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“This is baseless and unsustainable, and we set out below a means to rectify these issues while repairing the State finances.”
McDonnell was pressed on this quote by Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane today. McDonnell repeated that he was told about this perception of ‘fiddling’ expenses by a senior trade union official and a senior official in a government department.
During the committee meeting, Danny McCoy of Ibec also said the €350 Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment can be a “disincentive” for people to return to work.
Dr Orlaigh Quinn, Secretary-General of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation is expected to also tell the Covid-19 committee that GDP is projected to decline by over 10% in 2020 and that Brexit could exacerbate the financial situation.
An estimated 220,000 jobs will be lost with the unemployment rate exceeding 25% in the second quarter of the year before falling in the latter half of the year.
“Consumer spending is estimated to contract by some 14% in 2020 with exports of goods and services set to fall by just under 8% this year. The heightened risk of a hard Brexit at the end of 2020 could exacerbate the difficulties facing the economy and recovery prospects,” she will tell the committee.
The food and accommodation sector has been the hardest hit, with over 90% of those in employment now receiving either the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) or the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).
The Wholesale and Retail sector, despite large elements continuing to trade, has some 58% of employees either on the PUP or TWSS.
Personal services, construction and administrative and support services have also been heavily impacted. The manufacturing sector, FDI and globally traded sectors have had less severe impacts to date, she is expected to say.
Around €13 billion has been spent by the Irish government to date to support citizens, businesses, and the economy.
- With reporting by Orla Dwyer
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I left 2 wks ago. Fully vaxed since 17 June. 3* apartment €370 a wk for both of us. €60 meal for 2, inc starters, main and bottle of wine. €1.30 glass of wine €2.50 pint. 28C past 2 wks. Ah sure no, i shouldn’t have.
Leaving on a jet plane? Very memorable song by John Denver, unfortunately many parents will be playing this song in the next few years as there children take flight to a better life. Hopefully iam wrong.
That’s been par for course for generations. Many will travel for lots of reasons. Many will come back also to raise a family. Not rocket science. Ireland’s a great country to live in by many standards, why else would so many return etc.
@iohanx: you’re having a laugh – great country to live in by many standards lol. Mica scandal in Donegal, housing shortage, vulture funds buying up estates, government is shambles, cost of living…
@Paul Furey: That’s false equivalence.
“Others have [list the issue here] too” doesn’t imply it’s equally bad everywhere. Nor does it mean nothing should be done about it. It’s been used to death whether the subject is covid, cost of living, corruption, healthcare, housing, etc.
As well as that, it’s time to move past “the door is open, don’t let anyone stop you”. Eastern European governments have had a similar attitude towards their citizens for nearly 40 years, and the effects are sorely felt. Hardly anyone is saying that now…
@Charles Coughlan: you should contact them. I got mine emailed within a week of my 2nd jab. If you registered on the HSE site for the vaccine then it would have been emailed, so check your spam folder first
@Charles Coughlan: If you got it via the HSE vaccination centres yeah, you should have had it emailed to you by now, so contact them. However, if you got it through your GP (say due to underlying conditions etc) then you’ll be getting a physical “passport” from them rather than the email, and it’s them you’ll need to poke. It’s also likely to be that bit more delayed as they get their own ducks in a row, considering the certs have literally only been available since last Monday.
@Sarah Heaton: I got my vaccination through my G.P. Got my covid passport by email last Monday. Bit surprised by that but maybe others should check their mail just in case.
@Paul Gorry: I encourage my children to travel and live abroad. It makes them more independent and emotionally intelligent. Nothing sad at all about your children exploring the world and understanding other customs and cultures. Living down the road from Mammy all their lives is something I find sad.
@SmallbutMighty: Maybe that’s their choice. What’s extremely sad and should concern you more is how many will HAVE to leave. Not by choice but by government who has made it impossible to live here. Taxed to oblivion, never able to have their own home, extortionate rent, lack of childcare, cost of education, inadequate healthcare unless you can pay a fortune for private cover. The list is endless. There’s a lot more important issues facing our children then slinging a back pack on and travelling for fun.
@Franny Ando: those are all problems that face people all over the world. Living abroad whether by choice or necessity has many many positives in the growth of an individual. There’s an awful sense of entitlement in a lot of Irish these days.
@SmallbutMighty: Nothing to do with entitlement. Living abroad should never be a necessity because you can’t afford to live in your own country. Highest interest rates, one of the most expensive countries in Europe etc so not quite like others. Emigration should be a choice not a necessity to have a decent life.
@Franny Ando: Franny, the woman’s original post relates to experiencing new cultures and growing as an individual. Why did u hijack the post and make it political?
@Joey: All for people broading their horizons. Travel is wonderful experience. No need for the disparaging comment about living close to “Mammies”. Not everyone wants to live abroad a lot want to rear their families in their native country. Definitely no one should have to go abroad to have a better life. If you can’t see that many are being forced to leave this country to do that then you are part of the problem.
@Franny Ando: everyone has to do what they have to do to get by. If that means moving abroad to find work, access better education or afford a house so be it. No one is forcing you it is always a choice. It’s a choice that people all over the world make. My original post was referring to the comment trying to trigger fear that everyone’s kids are being forced to leave and it’s all doom and gloom. I’m merely pointing out that emigration is a good thing for personal growth. Its something we should be encouraging our kids to do. Not making them feel they are being forced out because that breeds bitterness which is unhelpful in
any society.
@emer mcdonnell: because its a big old world out there and over the years I find the people who have travelled or worked abroad are generally more open minded and emotionally intelligent. Nothing wrong with settling at home but before you settle go spend sometime somewhere else. Again I’m referring to the original posters attempt to trigger fear in parents that their kids are being forced out. I’m simply highlighting that emigration does not have to be seen as a negative.
For those thinking of travelling to France, you will soon have to have a QR code or proof of having had covid-19 or a negative PCR test – within the last 3 days, to get into restaurants, cinemas and even supermarkets.
@lelookcoco: I have checked here in France as the QR code is now EU wide, I had to go into the App I was using and update the QR code I had already put there. It took all of 5 seconds. I am using the Anticovid app I downloaded from Playstore on my Samsung. From what I can see, the QR code just updates with a country of origin and an option to click on a box if you are crossing borders. It should/might be the same for Ireland. Good luck.
@Paul Diskin: Thanks for the link. (I backtracked to the link minus the /#scan to find the Import Picture option & used the preview to take a screenshot.) https://covid19passbook.netlify.app/
It’s all good news…
The more are leaving for Spain, Portugal and Italy, the less crowded beaches here will be. Never made sense to me even before covid, but I won’t argue with people…
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