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STAYCATIONS IN IRELAND “will be possible this summer”, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan said earlier this week that it is “unrealistic” to expect next summer to be characterized by people vacationing to other parts of the world.
“I do not think we are heading to a summer in which millions of people in this part of the world can go to the beaches, in addition to the beaches of their own towns,” added the CMO.
When asked about Holohan’s reference to people going to the beaches within their localities, Varadkar said:
“I anticipate that this summer it will be possible for people to spend their holidays in Ireland, to go to Kerry, Mayo, Waterford or wherever they want to go, or even Dublin if they want to. So I think it will be possible this summer. “
In an interview with TheJournal.ie, The Fine Gael leader also discussed the government’s plans to extend the Pandemic Unemployment Pay and wage subsidy scheme over the summer, as well as his hopes that people will be able to reunite with friends and family in March.
The lifting of strict Covid measures will depend on the level of the virus heading into the summer months, the average number of cases and the progress of the vaccine deployment, he said.
“I think this summer will be possible a vacation at home like the ones that people had last year. Obviously, international travel will be very difficult, much more difficult than last summer, sadly.
“I love traveling, I love going abroad, I love my vacations in the sun, I love the beach, I love the warm sea, I would be the first to get on that plane if I thought it was safe to do so, but unfortunately it is not. . “
Relieve restrictions
When asked what hopes there are for restrictions to be eased this spring, Varadkar said the government will be cautious. He confirmed that he told his parliamentary party last week that the country will move to Level 4 restrictions (or Level 4 with modifications) after March 5.
He was quick to point out that he did not indicate that restaurants would be open for cookouts next month, even though limited cookouts are allowed on Level 4 according to the government’s own website. As a result, some in the restaurant business said the Tánaiste’s reported comments had given rise to false hope.
That’s not going to happen, he said. “I don’t think so. I don’t eat outside.”
The Tánaiste said however that allowing people to meet outdoors “is something I really want to make possible in March.”
“I am the Minister of Business and Employment, my main job is to save companies, open them and get people back to work. But I also worry about people’s mental health.
“So many people have not been able to see family and friends, assuming they are abiding by the rules, of course they have not been able to see family and friends in person for a long time. By March, we will enter a third month of that.
“So when we reopened after the first wave, one of the first things we did was allow people to meet another house in the open air, not indoors initially, but outdoors. And I think maybe in March, that would be something that I think would be nice to be able to do. “
The reopening of schools and construction is also a top government priority for February and March.
“I think that the gradual return to school has to be the number one priority for reasons that I don’t need to explain to your listeners and readers. And the reopening of the construction aspects that are now closed.
“So building houses, for example, people want to buy, that’s important, and it’s largely a profession, outdoors and safe.
“These are the kinds of things that I think people will see… Can we move on to Level 4 or Level 4 mods on March 5? I cannot say that at this stage, that is not possible to say, ”he said, adding that it all depends on the number of cases and hospitalizations being low.
“Let’s try to keep the cases as low as possible, the lower we have them, the longer we can stay open. And the longer we buy in terms of giving people vaccines.
“But I also think we have to be realistic, you know, we are in Europe, we are at the epicenter of the pandemic, we have a land border with Northern Ireland, it could be the case that we reach a certain point where the number of cases stabilizes. .
“It’s interesting and good that people are talking about going to zero or getting close to zero, we just don’t know how low we can go. Countries that have successfully zeroed out did not have thousands of cases a day in the first place. We are seeing all over Europe countries that were blocked before us, reaching a point below which it is very difficult for them to go down, but we are going to try to go as low as we can. “
Various scientists, academics, and some opposition parties are calling for the government to adopt a “zero Covid” approach, which would involve trying to eliminate the virus entirely.
The chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, Professor Philip Nolan, has said that it would be a “false promise” to say that measures could be implemented now to safely drive a step to Level One or “Zero” in the framework restrictions in a matter of months. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it was not a “sustainable” policy for Ireland.
Draconian measures and strict restrictions
Yesterday in the Dáil, the Taoiseach said that the government had had to impose on its citizens some of the most draconian measures in the history of the state.
The Tánaiste said it is easier to introduce restrictions than to deploy them, but that is something the government intends to do. At this time, he said that stricter restrictions are needed and that there could be more to come.
“I am someone who believes in personal and civil liberties. I have never particularly liked the fact that we had to impose these restrictions on people. And you remember on the first wave […] very little of what we did was mandatory and supported by law. And I didn’t like the fact that we got to the space where we had to do that. But we have to do that.
“Because in the initial stage of the pandemic, it was easier to get the country to unite, to get everyone to comply. But when this has been going on for the better part of a year, it becomes much more difficult. And that is why we have had to endorse a lot of the advice and regulations in the law. And I think we will have to do more of that in the next term.
“But I want to be really sure that once we do these things, once these things are no longer necessary, we eliminate them. I would hate for one of the long-term consequences of the pandemic to be a constant restriction of our freedoms, because it is not who we are. It is not our way of life. And I am surprised to see how many people from the Dáil, both from the left and the right, have suddenly become authoritarian.
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Adding countries
It was announced last week that mandatory hotel quarantine would be introduced for people traveling to Ireland from Brazil and South Africa due to the increased risk posed by new variants of the virus. Those who do not have a PCR test will need to be quarantined for two weeks in a hotel.
In terms of countries that are considered higher risk, that list will get longer, Varadkar said.
“At the moment, it is Brazil and South Africa. I think you will see more countries added to that. But again, we have to confirm what they are doing in the UK, we have to confirm what we are doing at the European level, because we are in the European Union. We are European citizens, we have the freedom to travel in Europe. “
Varadkar’s expectation is that some kind of restrictions will be in place for much of the year.
“We will continue to have restrictions in place, counseling restrictions and legally enforceable, at least until we have a critical mass of the vaccinated adult population: 70% or 80% of the people.
“And then, if the vaccines fulfill their promise, we will be able to live with the virus in the same way that we live with other viruses like the flu, for example. But that really requires reaching a high level of herd immunity. And the only sure way to do that is through vaccines. “
PUP expansion and salary subsidy
And when the restrictions are lifted, what will be the consequences for the economy?
“We will try to avoid austerity. But of course, you know, once this pandemic is over, there will be a gap between what we spend and what we collect in taxes and that will have to be closed. In my opinion, the best way to close it is through growth. “
Varadkar said he believes the economy “will recover very quickly.” He said banks have billions of euros on the books of people who fortunately did not lose their jobs, and that the government will encourage them to spend them.
At the moment, the Tánaiste confirmed that negotiations are being negotiated in the government to extend the wage subsidy scheme, the Unemployment Pandemic Payment and the CRSS payment for businesses closed beyond the March 31 deadline.
“We are having discussions now in the government about extending them to the second quarter of the year. The period April, May, June ”, he said.
Other plans are also being prepared to help businesses “that may have been forgotten.”
New supports were announced this week for tourism businesses that were not eligible for the CRSS weekly grant, and Varadkar indicated that additional support will be announced “very soon” for another group of businesses that did not qualify for CRSS, such as catering service providers. and wholesalers.
“We’re looking at a specific kind of things that could help people who were in the concert economy, people who were doing music concerts or weddings,” he said, adding that another support package will also be needed for the music industry. aviation “because the summer that our airlines thought they were going to have, they won’t.”
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