Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

For most of those who were laid off last Friday, it will be their second experience of Covid-related unemployment this year and within a short period. The further reductions in terms of the unemployment supports will be a double blow for many. Most will worry about how they will survive, put food on the table and pay their bills and, of course, about when they might get back to work, if they get back to work at all. As most will have little or anything in reserve, it adds to the very obvious sense of panic and distress. At a point when it is hitting home that Covid-19 will be here for some considerable time, the reductions could hardly have come at a worse time. For that reason, the reduction of these supports urgently needs to be reconsidered and reversed.

A further group of people who are finding themselves with little or no financial supports are parents who have been informed by schools that their children must self-isolate. The acting Chief Medical Officer, CMO, was upfront in advising parents there would be outbreaks in schools and he was correct. Parents are not necessarily required to self-isolate if their children are sent home but those children must be cared for. If a parent is not sick, he or she is not entitled to claim sick pay. It must be understood that the impact is not isolated to the child. As a consequence, there is an urgent need to include parents who are in such situations in the enhanced illness payment scheme. There cannot be any differentiation between a parent whose child has got a diagnosis and children who were sent home to isolate for 14 days because they are part of a pod. Not everyone can work from home and it is not acceptable that these parents can find themselves in the situation whereby they have no income at all.

There also needs to be consistency of approach in schools. The Irish Primary Principals Network, IPPN, has looked for a dedicated telephone line for out-of-hours calls and that should be supported. In my constituency, at present there are three schools that have had a recent or current Covid-19 experience. In one school, the public health doctor confirmed a case in a pupil and no restrictions ultimately were required. A sibling of a student in the second school was diagnosed with Covid-19 and 22 students were asked to self-isolate for 14 days. The parents are looking for explanations as to why there is a difference. That simply needs to be done in order that they understand the rationale. The third is a big school which had a large outbreak and which is closed. Understandably, that is under review.

If we are to live with this virus for the foreseeable future, temporary supports are needed that are responsive to changing needs. I have three questions. Will the Taoiseach review and reverse the reduction in the Covid-19 unemployment supports as a matter of urgency? Will he extend the enhanced illness payment to parents whose children are sent home from school due to the virus? Will he do as the IPPN is seeking and provide a dedicated phone line with the HSE where a medical professional would be on hand out-of-hours to ensure there is advice and consistency across the schools?

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