Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to see you again, a Cheann Comhairle. I am sure there has been a sense of the surreal among people for the past four weeks. That also applies to the proceedings today and with regard to what is happening to people's well-being and health. In a matter of weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs, incomes and livelihoods. The sense of insecurity we are experiencing has not been seen for generations. Today's figures make for sombre reading. Some 500,000 people are now on the live register, an increase of 13% since 1 January. That figure is incredible and I do not think anybody could have predicted the number of job losses in that period. Even more sombre are figures from the United States today where some 6.6 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in the past week. We are entering the vortex of an economic depression that the world has never seen. That is not being alarmist. It is probably what we are facing. A vast number of people will be affected by this pandemic. Job losses will be temporary for most.

We must be upfront with people. Some people will lose their jobs permanently. Many people are accessing social welfare for the first time in their working lives. As I indicated, hundreds of thousands of people accessed social welfare over the past couple of weeks, specifically those taking the Covid-19 payment, and we must commend the workers who processed all those claims in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. They have done a fantastic job in an unprecedented and unbelievable environment.

I have a series of questions, although they may not come under the remit of the Minister in the Chamber. Will the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection consider a universal payment of €350 for all workers who have lost income in the past number of weeks? There are many anomalies with the Covid-19 payment, including those affecting people who are over 66, people working in the gig economy and students on work study visas who had not started before the relevant date. They do not get the €350 payment because they are out of the bracket. Is there a provision in the Department for a solidarity payment, perhaps, for people on disability or illness benefit in this period? Is there a special provision of rent allowance for people who are unable to meet their rent? Is there any provision for reward payments for front-line workers in the public health system?

My final points relate to the wage subsidy scheme and an anomaly therein. Anybody earning over €586 per week should get €410 in the wage subsidy scheme. They are currently only getting €350 and are therefore losing out with this anomaly. The information I have indicates this could be changed through a ministerial order. Would the Department consider it appropriate to change this anomaly in the wage subsidy scheme by ministerial order? It relates to people earning just over €580. Does it make sense?

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