Covid-19 Adaptation Fund for hospitality must be extended to all restaurants and cafés
Labour Leader Alan Kelly has called on the Government to ensure the Covid-19 Adaptation Fund for hospitality/tourism is extended to all cafés and restaurants.
In order to qualify for the grant at present, a restaurant or café must either have a Wine Retailer’s On-Licence or a Special Restaurant Licence and must provide proof of this when submitting an application.
Deputy Kelly said:
“Under the current stipulation for this grant, most cafés and restaurants that make up the backbone of our towns and villages will be excluded from applying. These businesses owned and run mainly by local people need to be supported through these Level 5 restrictions and at the very least deserve a level playing field from a Government funded scheme.
“The Minister for Tourism must intervene and stop this crazy, discriminatory, nonsensical practice. This funding must be extended to cover all cafes and restaurants. A café should not have to serve wine or have a Special Restaurant Licence in order to avail of a grant scheme. The short-term future of indoor dining looks uncertain with the ongoing threat of Covid and our cafés and restaurants need every support available to them to get through the crisis. I have had several struggling café owners contact me to say they could really do with this funding but are ineligible because they do not serve alcohol.
“This is incredibly disheartening for the many small independent cafés and restaurants, many of whom have spent thousands on upgrading their premises to comply with public health measures in order to stay in business and keep local people in jobs.
“The Covid-19 Adaptation Fund needs to be made available to all restaurants and cafés irrespective of type. This funding could be the difference between a small family run café staying in business or being forced to close.