CHRONIC staff shortages in pubs across Donegal are badly affecting the industry with some businesses having to close two days a week because they are unable to get enough staff.
Martin Harley, Donegal spokesperson for the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI), said he has been trying since Christmas to get a chef for his premises, Harley’s Cheers Bar in Ballybofey.
“We have been looking for a chef since Christmas. We can’t open the kitchen because of that,” he told the Donegal News.
“Even part time bar staff are very difficult to get. It seems to be a massive issue all over.”
This week groups representing pub owners told a Dáil committee they suffered a huge loss of chefs, managers and senior bar staff after two years of closures and restrictions had a devastating impact.
“Some places are having to close two or three days a week because they can’t get enough staff to keep open. Bar owners are doing more hours themselves than they have ever done to keep the doors open,” added Councillor Harley.
THE VFI are calling on the government to do more to convince school-leavers that a viable career path exists in the sector. Cllr Harley said working in the pub industry is a good job for young people.
“It’s a great job to build confidence because you are constantly meeting people and it helps going forward in their lives,” he said.
Councillor Martin Harley.
However he believes more needs to be done at government level to attract people back into the workforce. He said government schemes which give those receiving benefits an extra €20 to go back into the workforce are not attracting anyone.
“The Department of Social Protection should be working at incentivising going out to work. It would make more sense to give people an extra €100 on top of benefits and incentivise going back into the workplace.
“It would be a win-win situation, you would have extra people in the workplace and the extra €100 would be spent in the local economy at a time when businesses are struggling.”
At the recent VFI national conference the issue of rising energy and heating costs was top of the agenda.
“If you take a normal pub you might have Sky TV so that’s €600 a month, you could pay €500 a month on rates, €700 on electricity and energy costs and that is before you start paying wages,” said Cllr Harley.
“Something is going to have to happen because a lot of the pubs are going to close up.”
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