Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak in favour of the motion and to speak specifically about the cohort of workers who are in receipt of the payment of €300 per week. As we are in a level 3 lockdown, the inevitable consequence is that thousands more people will lose their jobs. The Minister is telling us that approximately 129,500 people are in receipt of the €300 rate and that this represents 60% of the prior average income for this group of workers. That is the same cohort of workers who will feel the brunt of this lockdown, however, because they work in bars, restaurants, tourism and hospitality. A lot of them are on modest incomes but a significant proportion of them are single income households with families who are earning anywhere between €50,000 and €80,000 per year, depending on where one works and what that establishment is.

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The Minister's suggestion that there is a jobseeker's payment that these people can move to and that those of them who have dependants will benefit on a pro rata basis by applying for a jobseeker's payment does not give us a real picture of the effects of the loss of income on that cohort. We do not know how long the lockdown will last. Even if it ended tomorrow, there would still be a lag effect before the relevant sectors returned. The case in point, which all of us have articulated, is the entertainment sector. Approximately 31,000 people in the sector have been seriously affected by this cut and would probably find themselves in that cohort.

Even if we take at face value what the Minister said on the payments of €250 and the €203, although I do not fully accept her argument that these people were worse off on a net basis, I still believe she has to look at those who are on the payment of €300 a week because they include people with mortgages and many single income households with families. Even when these people move to a jobseeker's payment or other such payment they will be net losers. These are the same people who will have an obligation to pay their mortgages. If the boiler breaks or a tyre change is needed on their car, the marginal effect of having to make these payments is much more adverse on families in that cohort. In the context of budget discussions, I ask the Minister to revise the Government's position on that group of workers. As we speak, that cohort of workers is not getting any breaks from the banks, as has been articulated already by the proposers and supporters of the motion. If they fall behind on mortgage payments, I do not need to tell the Minister the consequences this would have for those families. I ask that she take on board the pleas being made on behalf of that cohort of workers. They are the people who go out to work every day and keep the economy going. They have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Since 12 March, some of them, for example, those in the entertainment sector, will not be able to go into an Intreo office and say they can now go carrying a hod up a ladder on a building site. They simply do not have the ability to pivot into or find work in other sectors. This is the variable or factor that is not being taken into account.

As a Deputy, I have an excellent working relationship with officials of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection when acting on behalf of my constituents. Those officials show professionalism par excellencewhen dealing with representations I make on behalf of my constituents. The Minster, however, has a problem with Intreo. The time lag, machinery and obstacles that apply to people in that cohort need to be sorted out. They include the revision of forms and the seeking of further information when a person transitions from the Covid payment to a jobseeker's payment. It causes major stress for families.

On balance, we would be better off if, for this very uncertain period, the €350 payment was restored or reviewed. That would give people some headroom to meet any overheads they have while society is going through this turmoil. We have not seen the time lag effects of the lockdown that was announced this week. It will have the effect of pushing more people into the Covid payment bracket. The Government needs to revise its position in respect of the cohort of people on the €300 payment. These people are in entertainment and the tourism and allied sectors. They have massive overheads. They have children of schoolgoing age and car loans and we need to look after them. When the economy comes back again they will jump back into work but we cannot put them into poverty. That is the point I am trying to make to the Minister. They cannot be reduced to poverty. We need a social floor, a protection below which they will not fall. I ask the Minister again to please consider the cohort within the €300 bracket.

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