Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the Deputy's three questions. The statutory payment is tax-exempt. On the eligibility criteria, the payment will apply to workers who have been made redundant or who will be made redundant in the next three years and who lost the opportunity to accrue reckonable service due to layoffs caused by the Covid-19 restrictions from 13 March 2020 to 31 January 2022. The amount an eligible worker will receive will depend on the length of time for which he or she was laid off due to Covid-19 restrictions before the date he or she was made redundant. The calculation for the period of a layoff is based on existing redundancy provisions. On those who have accessed it and how much has been paid out, up to 30 September 2022 we had received 2,342 applications, of which 2,262 had been processed. The total amount of money that has been released under the scheme is €901,846, and €10 million was allocated for the operation of the scheme.