Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Several of my constituents have contacted me about returning to work, particularly in the past week. It appears they are being put under enormous pressure by their employers to return. I am talking about particular workers who might have an underlying medical condition and, therefore, it is unsafe for them to return to work. I am also talking about people who have absolutely no childcare options. In many cases people have been told that if they do not return to work they will lose their jobs.

I have a letter issued by an employer to staff in the past week. The letter states that staff who feel unavailable to return to work must provide their manager with a certified sick note or a written reason a return to work is not possible and that if a sick note is not in place, it will have no alternative but to mark staff as absent which will end in a termination of contract. It is clear that a direct consequence of the Government not acting on the childcare issue is causing massive problems for people.

Businesses are making these demands of their employees. Many of these workers cannot return to work for the reasons I have outlined and it is no fault of their own. What action has the Department taken to ensure workers are not being treated in this way or are not being threatened with termination of contract, so as to ensure job losses are not multiplied tenfold because of a direct consequence of Government action with regard to childcare?