Following on from the Government's announcements today I want to make a few observations. As Chair of the Oireachtas committee which deals with tourism I am mindful this will come as devastating news to the hospitality sector. Will the Minister talk us through some of the supports the Government intends to put in place for the hospitality sector? We cannot expect people to effectively police whether customers for indoor dining are vaccinated or not. I live in a Border county and I see people leaving, understandably, to go a couple of miles up the road where there is indoor dining. We cannot have that inconsistency on this one island. I really fear we are driving people out of our own island to other jurisdictions for indoor dining and for the staycation we have been advocating for.

I share Deputy Smyth's concerns and her belief we can manage hospitality in a way that works for public health and to restore our tourism and hospitality sectors. As an interim measure, while we are devising the plans and working out the approach and the reopening plans, there will be further supports and extensions. The PUP is due to be closed to new applicants but that will be extended for a further week into early July. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, will set out the details but as I recall, there will be a two-week double Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, payment to particularly affected businesses. We need to get them back working and open, however. The Government's real, key focus is that those measures are very temporary and that they are not the answer. The answer is to get our pubs and restaurants open and we commit to making that happen.