Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The other way to help to attract people to positions, whether it is nurses or other healthcare professionals, is to send a clear signal that they are valued. In that context, where is the bonus for front-line workers? It has been five months since the Taoiseach made an address in New York to say that the Government would bring forward a bonus for front-line workers. It is two months since he said that it would be finalised shortly. The Minister has said to the Committee on Budgetary Oversight that this needs to be dealt with well before the end of the year and next week we will be into December. These nurses are in the middle of a fight against Covid in their hospitals again and they are understaffed and looking at Christmas and wondering what leave, if any, they will get. They are going through another year with no bonus and the Government has not announced a bonus. How long does it take for the Minister and his colleagues to figure out that our front-line workers should be recognised with a bonus? The Government has had five months since the Taoiseach publicly made that commitment. How long more will it take? This rests on the Minister’s desk and it is him who is ultimately responsible for this. Can the Minister inform the committee when a decision will be arrived at on a bonus? Has a decision been arrived at or has the Government just dropped the issue? What will the bonus be? What will it cost? Front-line workers in our hospitals are fighting the pandemic every day and we ask them to turn up and put themselves in the bearna baol for the rest of the community. Surely to God the Government should have made this decision well in advance of coming into this Christmas period.