Dáil debates

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Covid-19 (Employment Affairs and Social Protection): Statements

 

6:45 pm

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister acknowledged that the Government allowed workers to avail of the temporary wage subsidy scheme. As she well knows, a large number of employers in the hospitality sector and a range of other sectors had poor cash flows. They laid off their workers, being aware that they could avail of the PUP. One business person in Donegal told me a story. A chef working for that business had paid taxes and social insurance for decades but was left with no support from this State, yet the young person who had been washing dishes for just weeks got €350 per week. How is that fair or defensible? As the Minister is aware, many workers are benefiting from the PUP rather than the wage subsidy scheme. There is a much higher uptake. As such, it is not in any way reasonable to use it as a defence. How can the Minister argue that she is in line with European rules by not paying workers who are resident in the North the PUP and instead paying them through the wage subsidy scheme? How can it be done for one scheme but not the other? She cannot stand over this.

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