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

There will be no resources spared in the public health response. The Minister for Health has already announced a doubling of public health doctors. I spoke with the Chief Medical Officer this morning on this issue, among others. Again, we are in agreement that anything we can do to fast-track the recruitment and appointment of other staff will happen.

As the Deputy knows, with regard to the testing regime, the first 500 community swabbers are through the interview process and are going into compliance checking. The first new staff start on 8 October. With regard to contact tracing, the first 400 people are through the interview process. There were 65 new staff this week, on 6 October, and there are to be 70 next week, on 12 October. We expect to continue to bring in 60 to 70 new staff every week, which will help to free up resources in the wider health service and also get a specific, stronger workforce in place on the contact tracing and swabbing side. The public health service faces a challenge owing to Covid-19. Of that there is no doubt, but the resources have been provided and will not be spared in ensuring that what must be done will be done. I have made that very clear, and so has the Minister for Health.

This year, because of Covid-19, the Government will have allocated substantial funding to intervene to support people regarding their incomes and to support employers to try to keep businesses viable. That will continue. We have to have a sustainable model for the pandemic unemployment payment. The whole idea was to make sure we could sustain this until April 2021 and beyond considering the financial and economic implications.

Moving to level 3 is already having a significant impact on the number of new claims. As of the close of business last night, we have received 17,000 new claims for the pandemic unemployment payment. Normally, there would be between 1,000 and 2,000 claims per day. Given the move to level 3, additional claims are expected. A rough estimate based on experience in Dublin and Donegal indicates that between 40,000 and 50,000 extra claims could be made this week as a result of moving to level 3. That is how serious moving to level 3 or any higher level is. It has clear financial and economic implications. The Government has taken that on board and will have a very high deficit this year, of over €20 billion. Obviously, we will be recalibrating figures as a result of moving to level 3. The economic consequences are significant, including for individuals who lose their jobs and so on. We want to try to be fair to all concerned and give people a support, by way of the pandemic unemployment payment, that is close to what they were earning prior to losing their job in the first instance.

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