Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issues. As I said earlier, the changes to the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, last July were designed to give sustainability to it. It was originally designed as a 12-week scheme when it was rushed into the House and introduced as an emergency to underpin incomes. The new rates approximate closely to what people would have been earning prior to being rendered unemployed because of Covid-19. That is still the situation and the figures show that. In other words, people will be in receipt, certainly above, on average approximately 105% of their prior income. Some will be lower; some will be higher and some will be very close to 100% of what they would have been earning when they were laid off as a result of Covid-19. We have extended it out to April and the Government is conscious now that we must plan longer-term in terms of the financial and economic impact of Covid-19 on certain sectors and on individuals and their incomes. That will be challenging. As I said, €28 billion will be spent this year, as opposed to an original €20 billion, for the social protection budget alone.

Originally the social protection budget represented 25% of overall allocation of resources this year. These are very challenging situations facing the Government and the Oireachtas. However, we provide support through the extraordinary measures we have taken with the PUP and the wage subsidy scheme which has also been extended out to April. We also have other schemes such as restart grants, tax relief and other measures designed to facilitate employers and assist people to retain jobs. We will also need to consider giving additional supports to specific sectors that are losing out more than most.

The Deputy raised the issue of a parent who has to stay at home because a child has to self-isolate. Looking at the national figures for that, there has been some mass testing and the figures for those testing positive are quite low. For example, for children aged up to ten, it is as low as 0.5% testing positive. When more than 3,000 teachers and students were mass tested, about 73 tested positive. We need to keep a perspective about that. Given the low numbers, I will inquire with the relevant Minister to see what can be done to help in that situation. At this stage I cannot commit to any broad scheme on that because the implications could be significant. A precedent could be set and it may not fit into any particular social protection scheme. I understand the point the Deputy is raising, and I will pursue it further and come back to her.

On her third point, I will also engage with the HSE and public health officials on having a dedicated phone line she feels principals may require to provide certainty on decisions that have been taken.

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