Fitzgerald: Government needs to back our B&Bs

FIANNA Fáil Councillor Breandán Fitzgerald has called for the Business Restart Grant Scheme to be made available tor Bed and Breakfasts and other small businesses – and he said that over-66s should be eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

Even though most B&Bs have been without an income for much of this year, they are not able to apply to the Business Restart Grant Scheme as they do not pay rates.

Cllr Fitzgerald – who himself owns a B&B – said this will be a major blow to such businesses, who will already struggle to fund the measures needed for safe re-opening.

“In order to reopen, the Bed and Breakfast sector, along with all others in the tourism industry, will have to follow COVID-19 operational protocol requirements that will be very stringent and will need financial assistance to put the measures in place to get open for business”, he said.

“The majority of Bed and Breakfasts have earned no income in 2020 and will not have the funds available to put the measures in place that will allow them reopen safely.

“These businesses also contribute to our economy, and if we are to get through this thing together, they must be helped as well as every other business.”

He also said B&Bs have been hit by conditions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment which have left it unavailable to over-66s. Bed & Breakfast Ireland, of which Councillor Fitzgerald is a regional director, estimates that two thirds of B&B operators are over 66.

“Yet if a business is on the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, a 66-year-old is able to receive the payment regardless as there is no age restriction for employees”, he said.

“A lot of them [B&B owners] would not have been in receipt of the full pension due to income from Bed and Breakfasts, and now they are being penalised for receiving a reduced pension by not being able to receive Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

“This injustice needs to be fixed immediately or we are looking at very worrying times and severe financial worry and difficulties for Bed and Breakfasts in Kerry.”