Ireland: Pubs/Bars etc could remain closed until COVID-19 vaccine is discovered says Health Minister

I think that means there will not be many pubs/bars or restaurants left.

Irish attorneys handling bankruptcy will have full employment for the foreseeable future ( and beyond )

Here's The Irish Times link to that story today. This posting would more appropriately fit in the Ireland thread instead of General Europe.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/most-pubs-will-close-for-good-if-lockdown-lasts-to-2021-vintners-say-1.4232877

Slainte!

I think that means there will not be many pubs/bars or restaurants left.

Not at all, they will be on income support. In Europe we have a very different approach. People in Ireland and Switzerland got their first income support in days of the shutdown....

This is not a long-term solution. We cannot continue to huddle in our basements with a bucket on our head. For those my age who are retired, we can stay home. Our death rate is 10%+. For younger people, the death rate is much lower. If a person is not in a risk group, the death rate is quite low. And the problems with huddling in fear with a bucket on our heads are obvious - lost businesses, evictions, lost jobs.

Too bad, in this case, that Irish Whiskey only has about 40% alcohol, so couldn’t serve as a hand sanitizer. Liquor stores here in Colorado were deemed essential businesses from the outset - is having the occasional dram or a pint in Ireland not essential?

Not at all, they will be on income support. In Europe we have a very different approach. People in Ireland and Switzerland got their first income support in days of the shutdown....

Not being conversant with how such things work in Europe, I have to ask, is this something that can be sustained until 2022?

The World Health Organization recommends governments limit alcohol sales during Coronavirus times:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/drinking-alcohol-can-make-the-coronavirus-worse-the-who-says-in-recommending-restricting-access.html

If the government keeps the pubs afloat until a vaccine is available, then why would they go out of business?

I find it hard to believe governments can sustain this sort of debt indefinitely without repercussions.

No Guiness, no party

Not being conversant with how such things work in Europe, I have to ask, is this something that can be sustained until 2022?

It certainly is the intention. And if you look at previous recessions, they don't cut benefits in Europe, you just move to a different scheme - usually from an insured one to a social one.

No Guiness, no party

There is Guinness and there is one hell of a party, usually on Friday evenings... we Irish have invented the virtual pub!!!!

The pubs can still do take out, so you collect your poison on Friday evening, go home, navigate to the site hosting the party for your community and off you go. Some even have life music - put they are almost always be invitation only.

If the government keeps the pubs afloat until a vaccine is available, then why would they go out of business?
I find it hard to believe governments can sustain this sort of debt indefinitely without repercussions.

At the height of the last recession Irish debt per capita was at 124%, today it is at 64%... and of course they still have access to that $16b from Apple ;-)

Put, joking aside, I don't hear anyone in Ireland or here in Switzerland being particularly concerned about the economics - it is very much first the people and sort out the economics later.

As long as the government, i.e. "Uncle Sugar," or taxpayers are footing the bill, keep the party going.

At some point the debt will require us to pay the piper. Until then pennies from heaven.

Ireland's Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe answers the sustainability question:

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0422/1133037-esri-on-bleak-economic-forecasts/

The plan will "tapered" and "changed" at the end of the initial 12-week period.

Mr Donohoe said the welfare subsidies "cannot be sustained
indefinitely", but they can be sustained for long enough to allow
incomes to be protected "for as long as possible".

The minister said the Government wants to give the 40,000 companies
availing of the Wage Subsidy Scheme "a fighting chance".

He said the Government wants to avoid cutting core social welfare
rates and wants to protect public pay, but this it contingent on the
global economy and Covid-19.

And one other perspective from the article...

The director of the Economic Social Research
Institute [Dr. Alan Barrett] has said the Government's economic forecast released
yesterday is "bleak" and that is without considering for another surge
in virus cases going forward.

Dave, until there's a vaccine...

...or a decade-long, worldwide depression.

They call me Mr Sunshine, you know...

But tourism in economically devastated countries is more affordable, so maybe Ireland should be at the top of people's list for early next year.

Yeah... and joining the locals in soup kitchens helps keep food expenses down.