Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The truth is, as the Deputy will acknowledge, that any analysis and projection as to how Covid will impact on our economy is a good educated guess. Nobody really knows how long this pandemic will go on for, how many waves there may or may not be or what they will look like. It is everyone's best guess as to what the impact will be but it is better to have some analysis and projection than none. We have to be honest with people that the analysis could change significantly over the coming months, depending on what happens with the virus and whether a vaccine is developed, and all of the things that everyone in the House appreciates already.

To answer the Deputy's question, if we have anything to do with the recovery, it will be jobs rich and jobs led. The priority is to get people back to their old jobs where possible. We acknowledge this may not be possible in all cases because some firms may fail and some sectors may not recover for a very long time. We need to make sure alternative employment is created in other sectors, such as climate action, green tech and green energy. It will also be in construction building some of the many houses we desperately need, and in areas such as care, where we need to increase the number of staff in that part of the public service and other parts of the public service.

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