Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

As I only have four minutes, I will also avoid the niceties. I know that front-line workers and public officials have done a lot of work. I wish them well in their work in the next period because they are possibly going to face a difficult situation in hospitals and elsewhere.

I refer to the letter from Patricia King, the president of ICTU, to the Taoiseach yesterday. The letter refers to the problems that could be faced by hundreds of thousands of low-paid, non-unionised workers who do not have a contract for sick pay with their employers. In a severe crisis of Covid-19, these workers may be asked to self-isolate or even face temporary lay-offs without pay. Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, employers have a duty to protect staff and, under the same Act, employees have a duty of care to fellow workers. Workers in this situation will have to rely on sick pay or unemployment benefit if laid off. These benefits are very low in Ireland. While we have pay-related social insurance, we do not have pay-related benefits, as is the norm in most EU states. The flat rate of sick pay is €203 per week. However, it does not cover the first six days because, as has been said, it was extended from three to six days in 2012. I note the Tory Government has moved to reduce the waiting time from four days to none. Workers classified as self-employed, often in bogus self-employment, may not even be entitled to State benefits.

What is the Government going to do about this? I heard the Taoiseach say today that the Government will make an announcement next Monday. When is the Government going to meet ICTU? Is it going to bring in legislation, if necessary, to change these mechanisms?

With regard to high-risk groups, I was with Cystic Fibrosis Ireland this morning as I have a family member with cystic fibrosis. There is huge concern among people with cystic fibrosis, COPD, cancer and diabetes. I was talking to a woman who said that in the first 71,000 cases in China, the death rate among people with diabetes was 8.4%. We have to plan to put in place a liaison officer along the lines of the officer in place during the swine flu epidemic in 2002, when the first patient who died was a cystic fibrosis sufferer. That has to be done.

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