The urgency of now to bring forward the reopening roadmap and relax social distancing measures
Dear member,
As we observe very positive news on the suppression of Covid in our community and witness internationally the reopening of economies, it is time for Irish business to seek a relaxing of the health measures and for the Roadmap to be brought forward so that the majority of businesses can reopen before the end of June. Today, I wrote to An Taoiseach setting out the Ibec position and requesting the following:
• Removal of the quarantine restrictions
• Replacement of the 2 metre social distancing requirements with a 1 metre requirement
• Ensure track and trace measures are in place to deal quickly with new cases
• End lockdown by the end of June
These changes are urgent for business but so too are they for society. Childcare facilities, schools and transportation providers are particularly challenged and young people are shut out of civic, sporting and community facilities and clubs which engage them. Business and the infrastructure which holds us and our communities together cannot countenance the current arrangements.
We also continued our engagement on Reboot & Reimagine this week, the campaign being well received and politically accessible across all parties. We had substantial dialogue with the President of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McéDonald TD and Finance Spokesperson, Pearse Doherty TD, as well as having the honor of being the first guest in nine weeks of an tUachtarán Michael D. Higgins at the Áras, who was particularly engaged on the Ibec effort.
This morning I met with Michel Barnier through our BusinessEurope network and we will have further dialogue on Brexit next Tuesday morning at our member event with An Tánaiste, Simon Coveney TD and Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee TD. Please register to join this event.
I will keep you updated on further communications in relation to the issues raised in my letter to the Taoiseach, political developments on the formation of a new government as well as Ibec’s quarterly economic outlook which we will issue next Thursday. For now, I hope you and your families enjoy the long weekend ahead and hope to see as many of you as possible at Tuesday’s webinar.
Best wishes,
Danny McCoy
Ibec CEO
