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Law to protect staff tips

The Government has announced plans to ensure workers including waiters and waitresses retain tips paid by customers. tips

Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar received approval at Cabinet to draft a law which will give new rights to employees which will prevent businesses from using tips and gratuities to "make up" contractual rates of pay.

The legislation will require firms to clearly display their policy on how both card and cash tips, gratuities and services charges are distributed.

Electronic tips must also be distributed fairly, according to the new legislation.

No grace for nightclub tickets

New rules requiring customers to book tickets for nightclubs and other late-night events will be published today.

Industry representatives sought a delay in the roll-out of such rules, as many do not have the systems in place for ticket bookings.

The tickets, to be purchased electronically, must also contain details to allow for robust contact tracing and would have to be booked at least one hour in advance.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is due to sign the regulations later, which will require orderly, managed and socially distant queues for the return to bar service.

They will be published online, with accompanying guidelines, and will take effect tomorrow.

Dublin makes 'Planet' Top Ten

Dublin has been named the seventh best city in the world to visit in 2022 by Lonely Planet. The leading travel media company will unveil the accolade today in the Lonely Planet’s dublin0120 Best in Travel 2022 – its collection of the world’s hottest trends, destinations and experiences for the coming year.

With 2022 marking 100 years since the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2022 will encourage visitors to follow in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom, with a stroll around the city to see its architectural and cultural delights.

Supports help McEniff hotels

The skylon1021 impact of subsidies and grants for hotels is revealed in a series of 2020 accounts filed this week for hotels associated with the McEniff family from Donegal. They own properties including the Skylon in north Dublin, the Yeats Country Hotel in Sligo and the Holyrood in Bundoran.

Accounts for Babodana, which owns the Skylon, show sales fell €5 million to €2.2 million. However the company reported a net loss of €628,000, compared with a profit of almost €1 million in 2019. Operating expenses were €2.6 million – €400,000 more than its sales. But the potentil loss was reduced by €580,000 of “other income”, which would include any State payments.

Hotels with access to a summer of domestic tourism performed better. The McEniffs’ Yeats Country Hotel made a profit in 2020 of €206,000, while cash on hand increased almost sixfold to €610,000 by year-end.

Meanwhile, the Holyrood property actually reversed a 2019 loss of €233,000 to a 2020 profit of €294,000. Cash on hand also increased there by fourfold to €603,000.

Public backs pedestrian streets

A large majority of people want traffic restrictions on Dublin's Parliament Street and Capel Street to be made permanent according to the results of a public consultation. capelst0821

Overall more than 90% of respondents said the trial pedestrianisation had "significantly improved" their experience of the streets.

Dublin City Council carried out surveys which received nearly 7,000 responses from members of the public, businesses and residents following 17 weeks of traffic free evenings at weekends.

However support for permanent traffic restrictions was lower among residents and businesses.

A council report said that options will be examined before they are put for formal consideration early next year.

As part of Covid-19 restrictions, extra space was created for pedestrians and outdoor dining on the streets.

Starting in June, the streets were also traffic free on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from 6.30pm to 11.30pm for a total of 17 weeks before