Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond first to the question on seasonal workers. While we have had progress regarding people who were on X's and O's at the start of this outbreak, people who had not returned to work were left without the Covid-19 payment. This is something I feel very strongly about. I met many such people in the past three years in my role as a Minister of State. I meet those people who are working on the front line day in and day out through my interaction with hospitality businesses. My father was one of those people for almost 40 years. He worked in the hotel industry. For the first 30 of those years, he did not work until about March and then he worked six or seven days each week right up to October or November.

I met the Ministers for Finance and Employment Affairs and Social Protection on this. Whereas there has not been progress on the matter to date, it is something I will continue to advocate. Ordinarily, these people would be back at work and making a significant contribution to the economy. Many are the unsung heroes of the industry, some having worked seasonally for 30 or 40 years, and they were unfortunate not to have been back working at that time. Many people return to work around St. Patrick's Day but the cut-off point was just before that. I will continue working on this as it is very important. Looking at the numbers in the sector who are out of work due to Covid-19 and those who are either under the subsidy scheme or on the Covid payment, I estimate that there are probably 30,000 or 40,000 people in that bracket, although I am open to correction. It is very unfortunate for those people. Many will also not be able to get their stamps for next year which has a knock-on effect in 2021 where people are not working now, and there are also people whose jobseeker's payment entitlement will be running out. The Department has given me a commitment to address the issues which might arise in 2021 around this but I would like those people to be included in any future extension or longer term arrangement. We cannot allow those people to go without payment.

On workers' health and safety, we are engaging with all people in the industry to see how they can safely return to their normal activity. Health and safety of employees must be at the forefront; it is quite simple. As consumers, few people would be comfortable in a situation where their own health and safety is not guaranteed and that is difficult if one is not also ensuring the health and safety of the people working, due to the nature of the virus which is transmitted so easily.

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