Mr. Neil McGowan:

Unfortunately, while there were members on the TWSS, particularly in Aer Lingus, those who were in receipt of that payment were working substantially fewer hours than they normally would.

The 30% working arrangement was in place and many hundreds of Aer Lingus workers made applications to the Department of Social Protection to claim short-time working payments as well. It has been an exceptionally frustrating and difficult time for people because there has been no real clear direction on it. We wrote to the Minister on a number of occasions and have met some of the Department's officials and while it has not been said outright, the general information that has come back to us is that while people were in receipt of the TWSS, they would not qualify for other payments. However, people have not received decisions from their local offices and it is completely unacceptable that they have been left in limbo for such a considerable amount of time. While they were on the TWSS, the €350 was essentially covering 30% of their wages but they were not receiving any other income from the company or, as yet, from the State. When people's income has been hit to that extent they should have the opportunity to avail of short-time working supports through the Department of Social Protection. They would be able to avail of those supports in any other circumstances if they were not in receipt of the TWSS.

Since we moved to the EWSS on 1 September, the situation has become a little more straightforward and people have been able to claim the short-time working supports. Working hours have increased to 60% now and people are able to claim the short-time working supports from the Department of Social Protection. In terms of our requests, given that it is likely that people will continue to work fewer hours than their contracts provide for over the short to medium term and their financial commitments, including mortgage and loan repayments, dictate that they need to be earning, a short-time working scheme needs to be introduced for aviation. The German model allows workers to receive 60% of their pay for the hours they are not working and full pay for the hours they work. That would create a scenario where somebody who suffered a 30% reduction in working hours would only suffer a 10% reduction in income. There have been some tentative positive steps regarding the introduction of testing and some welcome positive news on a potential vaccine but if there is to be some light at the end of the tunnel then people working in the aviation industry need every support to get them through. This period has been exceptionally difficult and we have hundreds of members who are really struggling to pay their mortgages, as is the case with all of the other unions at this meeting today.