Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will leave some time at the end of our remarks for answers. If the Minister does not have time to respond, she might correspond with me.

As we heard, Covid-19 has fundamentally changed Ireland's economic and social landscape. At the end of 2019, 2.5 million people were at work by contrast with today, when there are over 1.25 million people in receipt of income supports. The State is likely to run a deficit of around €30 billion for 2020, and reigniting our economy will present significant challenges. A business-as-usual, one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Employers, employees and sectors that remain closed owing to the Government's health advice should have certainty that the income supports will be maintained for the period in question. We need to see changes to the pandemic unemployment payment and the wage subsidy scheme to allow for more flexibility to support the workers. For example, workers should be allowed to return to companies to work part time where possible. The Government should support working schemes or incentives whereby staff are allowed to work from home.

Long-term unemployment is a genuine prospect, especially for the 120,000 who are under 25. That needs to be tackled, particularly for those in respect of the pandemic unemployment payment. We need an ambitious plan to retrain and reskill those workers who unfortunately lost their jobs during this pandemic. Any measures that are put in place must deliver an inclusive recovery.

I previously raised in this House the discriminatory aspects of the temporary wage subsidy scheme and the PUP. While the Minister referred to some changes in her speech, it is important that we see some changes. The arrangements are deeply unfair on women returning to work from maternity leave in that they cannot access the temporary wage subsidy scheme. The criteria are equally discriminatory against those over the age of 66. Will the Minister commit to rectifying deficiencies in these schemes to ensure an inclusive recovery in which no one is left behind?

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