Going to level 4 or level 5 will only happen if we think it is necessary

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has called it “heartbreaking” that 60,000 people have had to qualify for pandemic unemployment pay (PUP) following the introduction of new restrictions across the country.

The whole country joined Dublin and Donegal earlier this week at level 3 of the government’s Living with Covid-19 plan, and as a result the hotel sector has had to shut down once again.

Speaking on Newstalk’s Down to Business with Bobby Kerr, Mr. Varadkar said that the Government does not make the decision to increase restrictions lightly.

“In the last week alone, 60,000 people returned to receive unemployment benefit, laid off for the second time in a year.

“No government wants to make those kinds of decisions and we don’t take them lightly.

“We certainly will not go to level 4 or level 5 unless we believe it is necessary.”

Varadkar said there will be a time in the future when a decision will have to be made about which businesses are viable and which are not.

It may turn out that the pandemic changes things forever and that pubs will never be the same again, aviation will never be the same again, and nightclubs will never be the same again, but I’m not about to make that call. .

“I still hope and believe that with the development of a vaccine, with improvements in particularly rapid tests and trials and improvements in treatments and prophylaxis, we will get to a point, hopefully, by the middle of next year, where life to be something like what it used to be and that these companies have a chance to survive. “

In response to complaints this week about traffic delays due to the introduction of Garda checkpoints, Mr. Varadkar said: “The level of traffic we see on our roads is indicative of the fact that many people do not follow The restrictions”.

That is one of the reasons the virus is on the rise. That is bad for business too, so I am sorry for the inconvenience, but it is being done not only to protect lives, but also to protect business and the economy.

Mr Varadkar said that as Ireland is in the second wave of Covid-19, public health must be the priority.

Speaking about next week’s budget, Varadkar said the government will not be in a position to compensate companies for all the money they have lost due to the pandemic, but will try to do enough so that the vast majority can survive through the winter.

The government is considering lowering the VAT rate for the hotel industry before the 2021 budget.

The struggling sector has called for it to be cut from 13% to 9% to help businesses during the pandemic.

Varadkar said it is among the proposals that are being analyzed.