To ask the Minister for the Economy what discussions he has had with The Executive Office for financial assistance to help travel agents due to ongoing travel restrictions, in addition to The Executive Office’s Travel Agents Coronavirus Financial Assistance Scheme 2021.

Mr Frew

I understand the difficulties that travel agents continue to face in light of the ongoing travel restrictions. However, support for the sector is being taken forward by the Executive Office. In March, TEO introduced the Travel Agents (Coronavirus) Financial Assistance Scheme 2021, which provided a grant payment of £10,000 to travel agent businesses operating from commercial premises or a £3,500 payment to self-employed travel agents working from home. As well as availing themselves of the Executive Office Travel Agents (Coronavirus) Financial Assistance Scheme 2021, I am aware that some travel agents, subject to the respective criteria, have been able to avail themselves of business support grant schemes introduced by my Department, such as the £10,000 small business support scheme; the £25,000 retail, hospitality, tourism and leisure scheme; the micro-business hardship fund; and, more recently, part B of the COVID restrictions business support scheme. Despite the unprecedented level of financial support that has and is being offered, the Department appreciates that there are some businesses and individuals who continue to be severely negatively impacted, with travel agents being one of them. However, it will be for the Executive collectively to determine how any COVID-related funding is allocated as we progress through the road map and lifting restrictions, which, in my eyes, is the most important thing. We must make sure that we can have confidence injected into the market for travel agents.

Mr Frew

I thank the Member for her supplementary question. Since March 2020, the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Government have introduced an unprecedented number of interventions and packages of financial support to help those who have been affected by the consequences of COVID-19. My Department has led in the delivery of business-related support, providing over £513 million of much-needed funds to support local businesses from all sectors and occupations throughout Northern Ireland, with the primary aim of helping those businesses to survive the pandemic and protect as many local jobs as possible. Despite the unprecedented level of support that has been offered, some businesses and individuals continue to be negatively impacted. The Department and, indeed, the Northern Ireland Executive continue to receive calls for further support packages to be put in place. The Department's focus is on the full and uninterrupted reopening of the Northern Ireland economy in line with the Executive's road map and the associated health regulations. It will be vital to instil confidence into our travel industry in the weeks ahead. I am not sure that the traffic-light scheme actually does that. I think that decisions being made like a guillotine will sap confidence, and that is not a place where we want to be. To add to that answer, I inform the House that the Northern Ireland domestic aviation kickstart scheme (NIDAKS) has now launched. Our domestic and international air connectivity is critical both for the local tourism sector and for the wider economy, especially as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis. NIDAKS is a support scheme for airlines that is being developed by the Department and is aimed at maintaining and enhancing Northern Ireland's air connectivity with the rest of the United Kingdom following the COVID pandemic.

Dr Archibald

Following on from the previous question, for some businesses, direct financial assistance will be important to allow them to continue to be there to recover. So, as part of the recovery plan, is the Minister looking at support for sectors, such as a the travel and tourism sector, that have been most badly hit? They were the first to close and will probably be the last to open. This morning, I met the English language schools with the Finance Minister, and I really encourage the Economy Minister to meet that sector. That is one sector that has been badly hit by the pandemic and has not had a great deal of assistance.

Mr Frew

The Member raises a very important issue. It is widely accepted that the coronavirus job retention scheme and the self-employment income support scheme, which are both currently scheduled to end in September of this year, have been instrumental in avoiding mass unemployment. It is clear that both the furlough and the self-employed schemes are essential and must remain in place as we move into a sustainable economic recovery. I will be seeking to engage with the UK Government on how these schemes can be maintained to protect industries that are still impacted by restrictions. I hope that that will enhance and go alongside any work that my Department can do, with regard to its recovery plan going forward, to support businesses and to support jobs. I think that we could well be in for a critical couple of months as we come in to the winter months, and it is important that all restrictions that can be lifted are lifted to ensure that markets can activate and work as they should without any government interference. I think that that is important, and I will certainly be pushing for that support for our industries so that they will be allowed to get on with their business safely and productively and so that we will, hopefully, get the economy back up and running sooner rather than later.

Mr Weir

As Members have indicated, this has been a critically difficult time for industries across the board in their response to COVID, particularly the travel industry. Obviously, I welcomed the Minister's announcement on Thursday that he was launching NIDAKS, and I note that there has been a very warm welcome to that from our three airports. Can the Minister give the House some more detail on that scheme and how it will be helpful to the travel industry and to airports in particular as we move ahead?

Mr Frew

I thank the Member for his question. It is critical that we get this good news story out there, to be fair. NIDAKS aims to support inbound tourism and business travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and to encourage inward investment into the local economy. These are essential for Northern Ireland's recovery. We have engaged with our three local airports and the airlines in the development of NIDAKS, and the Department has launched it to deliver on our commitments to support Northern Ireland’s domestic air connectivity with GB as soon as the required approvals are secured. I have spoken to the airports, and I know that they are very thankful for that, as are the airlines involved. It is £4·5 million of support through ministerial direction, and it is vital that we maintain those links to GB not only for tourism but for commuter travel, especially when it comes to visiting family and friends throughout this country. It was very important that the scheme was rolled out as soon as possible. It started at the beginning of June. We had to instil confidence as soon as we could, which is why we had to go down the ministerial direction route.