Employers’ organisation Ibec has said that exhaustive efforts must be made to ensure that COVID restrictions are effective and that this is the last lockdown.  

It says the exceptional performance of the overall economy over the past 12 months shows that Government has the necessary resources to support those sectors bearing the heaviest burden of the ongoing restrictions. 

Endeavour

Chief executive Danny McCoy said: “The business community supports the Government’s call for a collective effort in suppressing the rising number of COVID cases and will play its part in this endeavour.

"This includes facilitating the need for non-essential workers to work from home.  

“The speed by which vaccines are rolled out will be central to efforts to tackle the health crisis. Once again, Ibec is calling on Government to urgently and collectively work with business to expedite the widespread rollout of COVID vaccines and promote a greater role for speedier and cost-effective Antigen testing.”