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BUSINESS SUPPORTS
Businesses should plan for how they can reopen while adhering to social distancing rules, says minister
Another package of business supports will be announced shortly, said Minister Heather Humphreys.
5.43pm, 29 Apr 2020
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BUSINESS Minister Heather Humphreys has said companies should start planning for how they can reopen ahead of the government publicising its plans for the gradual lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions.
The minister said she is currently working with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe on putting together another package of supports to help businesses get back up and running.
“You should be thinking about contacting staff and looking at ways to use this time to think of innovative ways for your company.
“Be ready and be prepared. We cannot go back until such times are safe.
“I understand there are companies that want to get back to work. We will be making a decision on Friday. We have a plan and it will be finalised in the coming days,” she said.
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Humphreys said businesses should start thinking about how they can reopen while adhering to public health guidelines such as social distancing and regular hand washing.
When asked about the plans for reopening the economy and what industries might be in the first phase, the minister said the government would be guided by medical advice.
She said the government was also looking at how people can continue to work at home in some cases.
“What I would say to companies is be ready, be prepared and we want to work with you. We cannot go back until such time as we get the medical advice, and we want to make sure that our priority has always been and will continue to be public health,” said Humphreys.
“I do understand that there are many companies that are out there that are very anxious to get back to work and we certainly will be making a further decision on Friday. In the meantime, we have a plan, it will be finalised, as the Taoiseach has said, in the coming day and there will be an announcement this Friday.”
The minister said that a number of businesses have been in contact about supports, but admitted that there were some delays in processing applications such as for the Microfinance loan.
“We are looking at a number of different supports that we can put in place to make sure that businesses get back up and running again and we’ll be doing that very shortly,” she said.
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Yes my usual park walk out the Lee fields here in cork has turned into grafton st on Christmas eve which is making me much more inventive and discovering new places near by
One good thing to come from this is that people are getting outdoors a lot more. They just need to learn to keep their distance and not go in large groups. Glendalough was full of groups of people with young kids the other day!
@Ciarán Seosamh: nobody said that. Dr Holohan specifically said the other day that getting out was good. We’re supposed to be limiting social interactions.
@Ciarán Seosamh: yes they are. Absolutely nothing wrong with being outdoors! If you go for a walk in the mountains with your family there is nothing wrong with that so long as you don’t spend periods of time close to other people. Educate yourself!
@Ciarán Seosamh: Another one who thinks the experts are wrong and he is right. Advice to stay indoors may well come if the numbers of cases starts to climb to quickly but that time isn’t here yet. Remember, the plan isn’t to have zero spread, its to keep the spread to numbers manageable for the health services over time and protect the most vunerable. We are taking pretty much the same approach as the UK, with the glaring difference being that the UK is trying to get to the ‘manageable’ number much more quickly. We are taking the long, cautious route while the UK are hoping to get it done more quickly. If it works for the UK they will be getting back to normality possibly months before us. If they get it wrong its going to be an absolute disaster for them. Imagine what’s happening in the Lombardy region of Italy and transfer that to the entire UK. Carnage !!
Have pretty much stayed home since last Thursday and have kept a very low profile. Decided to get the wee man out for a stroll yesterday at the local park and was very disheartened with what i saw. Place was packed with people standing around in groups, hugging hello and goodbye. Teenagers playing football. Got home and checked in with my parents in the west. My mother told the neighbour’s grown son was down from Dublin for the few days. Maddening.
I went for a run yesterday along the river bank. Fairly empty until I got to a cafe by the riverbank in a scenic location – it was open and the tables outside were packed with people.
Needless to say I didn’t go in to see what it was like inside!
@Teddy: Small business is struggling so I don’t think naming and shaming would do any good. Besides, I was to do that, should I not name and shame all the customers as well – after all, they are the ones sitting on top of each other.
Personal responsibility is just as important as business responsibility
@Dave O’Keeffe: indeed they are, but they also have a responsibility to public safety.
The line businesses are allowed to be open would have been idiotic to the pubs packed with people. So why should other business get a free card when they do the same?
Just walking my dogs and keeping away from people. Mother with 3 kids running around. One child comes running towards me to pet the dogs. Tell him to stop approaching me but he keeps coming so I have to raise my voice to tell him stop. Then a stranger walks by and rubs the kid and says don’t mind him while tussling his hair. The kids then are cycling around and meet up with another group of kids out on their own. People are idiots
There is a wooded area near me where I have walked the dog for years. It was always relatively quiet with the busiest time at weekends with families. Even so you could do a loop without meeting anyone up until a few days ago. It’s good that people are getting out and taking more exercise but a brisk walk around the loop was impossible yesterday because there were so many people out. Social distancing was out of the question.
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