Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Do we know how much money has been paid out under the scheme? I know it is not the Minister's Department that has the information. I also accept that the amendment relates to a tax exemption. As a matter of interest, however, does he know how much was paid out under the Covid-related layoff payment scheme and precisely what were the conditions of entitlement for the payment? The reason I am asking is partly because it was something the Debenhams workers were asking about. As the Minister will be aware, those workers were laid off during that period and had a long battle. They got nothing from the company and were only entitled to statutory redundancy pay, which, if I understand it, is exempt from tax. Is that right? The Minister is proposing that the Covid-related layoff payment also be exempt from tax. I am just curious, because it is something that the Debenhams workers have been looking at in the context of whether they could access it.