To ask the Minister for the Economy (i) for his assessment of how migrant labour laws are impacting the hotel industry; and (ii) to detail the steps he is taking to fill this labour gap and enable hotels to operate full-time.

Northern Ireland, like other parts of the UK, has been experiencing a high demand for labour recently, largely due to the disruption that Covid-19 has caused in the labour market. This has been the case across many sectors including accommodation and hospitality and across a range of skill levels. It seems clear that some staff placed on furlough found opportunities in other occupational areas and did not wish to return to their former roles.

In terms of migrant workers, the ongoing impact of the pandemic has seen some migrants return to their home countries in order to ensure that they are not separated from families for long periods. So while uncertainty around the impact of EU Exit and the introduction of migrant labour laws from 1 January 2021 has also meant that some migrant workers have gone back or moved to other EU countries, I don’t believe that it is possible to attribute changes in employment to any one of these events specifically at this time.

Tourism NI is working with the Hospitality and Tourism Skills (HATS) network and the wider sector to align activity and address key strands of a skills action plan. A key collaborative initiative is the development of a recruitment campaign aimed at addressing serious issues such as the attraction and retention of a skilled workforce to the hospitality and tourism sector. The campaign launched 31 January 2022.

The COVID-19 Recovery Kick Start Programme provides an avenue of support to existing tourism businesses to identify recovery action plans across four key business areas including HR and Talent development with a view to building industry competitiveness and aiding the longer-lasting survival of these businesses. In addition, the Tourism Enterprise Development Programme has been enhanced and upweighted to address key recovery themes identified. It will also integrate skill enhancement programming aligned to customer service and sales skills.