Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions. First, I will say a word about the proposals brought forward by the European Union yesterday. I think they are really important. They build on the work that was done by finance Ministers of the European Union and also the initiative that was launched by France and Germany last week. In addition to the reasons the Deputy touched upon regarding the Union's ability to fund, either by grant or loan, the kind of things that we need to change in our economy, both because they are a part of how we decarbonise the economy but also because they are job rich, for those reasons alone the funds and initiative that have been brought forward are very welcome. More broadly, the reason it matters so much is that it is a clear indication from the European Union that as Covid has wreaked such harm and loss of life across Europe, measures will be taken to ensure the gap between economies and countries that are inside the European project and inside the eurozone does not grow to an unsustainable level. I hope and believe that by the end of this year we can reach agreement on such an initiative. I believe it could make a real difference to the future of Europe and of this country.

I will deal with each of the questions the Deputy asked. As to whether we are considering a further change in income supports in light of seasonal workers, for example, an issue the Deputy has raised with me in recent weeks, I regret that I am not planning such a change. The reason for that is that it is very difficult to make the case for the workers to whom he refers. The way we have structured the payments is based on people who were at work when the pandemic hit Ireland. Many seasonal workers who are currently not working were not in work across that period and for that reason they are outside of the scope of the very big initiatives we have in place. I will look to address the issue raised by the Deputy. I take his point about the impact of the pandemic on tourism being so significant. I want to work with the task force that has been put in place to see what we can do to give work back to as many people as possible who would have been working in tourism in the summer. It is a big challenge, but it is one on which this Government and the next one will have to make some progress because of how important it is to so many communities.

Maternity leave is not a matter for which I have direct responsibility; it is a matter that is dealt with by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I know she has considered the matter. It has been put to me that the solution outlined by the Deputy is a way of dealing with the maternity leave issue. I want to deal with the fact that those who are on maternity leave were not able to access the wage subsidy scheme in the context of that scheme because it would take a long time if I were to wait for changes in maternity leave to deal with the issue. I want to act on that issue and I hope to do so tomorrow.

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