Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was here. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Aire.

In the beginning the words were "comfort" and "health protection". Comfort came first for the millionaires and billionaires. With Covid-19 they were assured there would be no penalties for the tax exiles outstaying their revenue welcome because we were all in this together. We were all in this together for only as long as the Government needed the feel-good headlines. In what passes for national conversation during the lockdown, the breathless "Oohs" and "Aahs" over the visitor visa for the Easter bunny drowned out the last gasps of our elderly in their nursing homes in north Kildare. On social media, they muted the panic of the staff who we know now were fighting without PPE to protect and save their elderly patients and, indeed, to save themselves.

Now the headlines and the "Oohs" and "Aahs" have served their purpose. The political babbling over. Now we are down to business as usual. While the millionaires and billionaires are still comforted and cosseted, those unlucky enough to lose their jobs are condemned. In the political punch down, those who lost their jobs due to Covid must now look for work to get the Covid payment while keeping that link with their employer. It is just absurd, but only marginally more absurd than the Government hiking their pay one day and cutting it the next, although it was agreed in principle few weeks ago, apparently. Thank God we are all green here and we were all born yesterday.

Not only were these unlucky workers condemned, they are now watched and reported on from the airports. It is the kind of thing one would see in the authoritarian regime in North Korea. I have written to the Minister about the collection and sharing of passenger information and the Data Protection Commission has done likewise. There are serious questions to be answered by a Department still in data flux in respect of the legality of the public services card. I have questions about the published criteria changing, about one group being treated exceptionally and about the EU ethics in this regard. All this chaos could have been avoided if the Government had made clear statements about travelling. People could have gotten their refunds and would not have felt they had to go on holidays because they would have lost out. As I arrived into the Dáil earlier before Leader's Questions, I heard about somebody who had lost their child benefit.

They were aware of their rights and when, despite not being in receipt of the Covid payment, they were questioned at the airport on their return from holiday they found out that their child benefit was being lost.

I also want to talk about the North-South aspect of this payment. People who live in the North and work in the South have been abandoned by the Government. That is not surprising when the Tánaiste regards Belfast as overseas. I would go so far as to say that the Government displays a disdain and spite for the working and claiming poor throughout the country. It is a virus in this Government and electorally Fianna Fáil and the Green Party are not immune. When the picnic in the park slips, it slips entirely. The working and claiming poor get cold-hearted public campaigns about cheating us all and now they are getting the tap on the shoulder. The Tánaiste’s outing on "The Week in Politics" over the weekend signals that the mean girls’ giggling is over, but the mean Government is here to stay. It is no longer "more to do" from Fianna Fáil. I think Fianna Fáil is already done in - done in by Fine Gael. As for the Green Party, in the chaos of this Government I am sure it can smell the wolves already.

See this speech in context