Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to all front-line staff and all who have answered the call, both at home and from abroad, to help meet the challenges facing our health services at this unprecedented time. These are the people at the forefront of this battle which faces our nation at this challenging and uncertain period. These are the doctors, consultants and all other medical professionals, as well as the Garda, fire services, local authority, Defence Forces and social welfare staff. In addition, we must acknowledge others who are working each day such as cleaners, those working in essential services, food suppliers, hauliers, pharmacists, supermarket staff and more. These are difficult and challenging times. Everyone who is playing their part must be acknowledged.

A Cheann Comhairle, I thank you, your staff and the staff of Leinster House who have kept the House open to ensure we can pass this emergency legislation. I acknowledge the tremendous work of an Taoiseach, an Tánaiste, the Ministers for Health and Finance and all other Ministers who have shown great leadership, as well as their staff and advisers. I also acknowledge the tremendous work of the Leaders of the Opposition and all Members who are working at this challenging time which faces our nation.

This is the biggest challenge ever faced not just by our nation but by the whole world. Covid-19 adheres to no borders or continent. Sadly, many lives will be lost over the world and, unfortunately, here. I offer my sympathy and condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones to this virus. We can reduce that number if people listen to the advice of the medical experts. I call on all our citizens to heed this advice.

Many people in our country are sitting at home worried about the future. Their first worry is about their health and that of their families. Their next worry is the financial implications of this pandemic, namely, how it will impact on their livelihoods, how will they be able to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads when all of this has passed and, in the long term, will they have a job.

SMEs are particularly worried. SMEs, including hotels, restaurants and bars, are the backbone of this country, employing over 1 million people. The hotel industry alone employs more than 260,000 people with 27,000 of them in Galway. Some of these companies will have the resources to survive this but, unfortunately, many companies will not.

I have been contacted by the print media and local radio stations which have informed me their revenue has dropped 70% overnight as a result of this crisis. Cash flow has gone to zero overnight, particularly in the hotel and bar industries. Stock will go out of date but will have to be paid for, putting huge pressure on the limited resources they have. Many of these businesses thought they were covered by insurance. When they contacted their insurance companies, however, they were refused cover on the basis that they closed voluntarily. This issue must be dealt with and insurance companies required to pay out. These companies closed in the public health interest. Accordingly, they cannot be penalised.

I have spoken to many businesspeople in the past few days and weeks. They are very fearful for the future and are not in the position to guarantee that they will take back all the staff who they laid off over the past several weeks. When the banks were in trouble, we were able to bail them out to the tune of €200 billion. It is time for Ireland and Europe to come to the rescue of our SME sector and put in place a rescue plan. The SME sector, as I have already stated, is the backbone of our society. We must help all the businesses affected by closure due to Covid-19 and give them incentives to take back all their staff. A grant system, not a loan, must be put in place. No rates should be paid for the rest of the year, not deferred. There must be a six-month break on paying PRSI and VAT. These proposals will give them a chance to build up cash flow and take back all their employees.

Many of these small businesses were already on the brink of closure due to escalating and increasingly unaffordable insurance premiums.

A Government-backed insurance scheme should be considered. This is the least we can do. These measures will help kickstart our economy when this public health emergency has passed. This is about the survival of our nation. If we do not support the SME sector hundreds of thousands of people will be out of work in the long term. I have been also contacted by a number of accountancy practices highlighting concerns regarding the operation of the wage subsidy scheme and I will be writing to the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation later today about those concerns and to ask her to deal with these issues.

In respect of healthcare, I particularly want to mention the tremendous work of Dr. Tony Holohan, our Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, who is a neighbour of mine in Galway. Their calm and assured approach to conveying a serious public health message without alarm is reassuring to the general public, and with their guidance I hope we will be able to flatten the curve and reduce the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths from this virus. One issue which has been brought to my attention, and which I hope can be resolved, is the plight of student nurses, many of whom had part-time jobs to pay their way through college. Unfortunately, these jobs have been lost and they have been called to the front line to help with the crisis. They cannot avail of the emergency Covid-19 payment and they are now effectively working for less than they would receive if they had stayed at home. These student nurses must be paid for their work in recognition of their efforts. We must have a streamlined approach to getting the people who are coming back from retirement or returning from abroad following the big 'On Call for Ireland' campaign into the workforce quickly. I welcome the fact that this Bill addresses this issue. We cannot have these people being frustrated and bogged down in red tape when they are coming to us in our hour of need. I ask that extra resources be allocated to processing their applications if that is what it takes. I also welcome the fact that people coming out of retirement will be screened for their own protection. It is a very worrying trend that almost 25% of those contracting Covid-19 in Ireland are healthcare workers. This is a much higher percentage than in other countries. I welcome the decision that healthcare professionals will be prioritised for testing but we need to ensure that all healthcare professionals, in hospitals and in the community, have the appropriate personal protective equipment. I have received calls from people providing care to vulnerable people in the community who are struggling to secure protective equipment. Perhaps the Government might consider the needs across the healthcare sector as a whole.

There are Government schemes that have ongoing deadlines that will cause huge inconvenience to people over the coming weeks, for example, driving licence renewal, particularly for those aged more than 70 years, who are still required to present in person; closing dates for the basic payment scheme at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; dates for lodging legal papers and many other things that we have not even contemplated. In an ideal world we could bring in emergency legislation to deal with each of these individually. However, because the absence of a new Seanad prohibits us from introducing new legislation we are looking for a simple provision to be written into legislation that gives Ministers the ability to postpone renewal dates and other deadlines for a period of six months so that they have the flexibility needed to ensure nobody is denied a right or a service, or is forced to leave his or her home in the coming weeks to renew such documents.

I ask that the Covid-19 emergency payment be made available to widows and to full-time carers who because they worked part-time are not eligible for social welfare top up. This needs to change because these households have lost a significant element of their incomes. This needs to be replaced through a social welfare or income support mechanism. Also, the habitual residency condition for welfare entitlements in Ireland which applies to Irish workers abroad returning home due to the coronavirus must be lifted as it may place many returning migrants in uncertainty and financial hardship.

I welcome this Bill and will support its passage through the House today.

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