Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise two specific issues with the Minister but obviously time is running out and Deputy Cullinane wants to share time with me. My first question is about the role of the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, in policing workforces for compliance with public health guidelines in regard to Covid-19. As she knows, everyone is deeply concerned that the HSA will not be sufficiently resourced to handle the massive task it will be asked to do. I welcome the comments made earlier this afternoon by An Taoiseach when he acknowledged that the HSA will need additional staff and resources. Will the Minister provide the House with information on the extra funding she will be providing to the HSA? How many additional inspectors would be employed under her plans? Is she satisfied that the HSA has the powers required to achieve those objectives?

The second issue is about the Minister's plan in the joint document between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil about the introduction of a living wage. Although it is a welcome departure from the Minister's previous conservative position, I am concerned about the lack of detail and commitment to the proposals. This week, we have seen the Small Firms Association and IBEC call for a freeze on any increase in the national minimum wage for the next few years and oppose the introduction of a living wage. Those organisations deal with the Minister's Department all the time. That is the reason I am asking her about the Government's position. The approach from those two organisations is disgraceful as the past few months have shown just how vital workers who earn the minimum wage are to our society. To clap for front-line workers one day and turn around the next and say they do not deserve a wage that will let them afford the basic day-to-day necessities is the worst type of hypocrisy. Business can recover while paying their staff a decent wage. It is not a case of one or the other. Sinn Féin completely rejects this approach from the Small Firms Association and IBEC. What is the Government's position? Have the Small Firms Association and IBEC raised this with the Minister and what has she told them? I am aware they have been meeting the Minister.

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