Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have no detail on this because it is not agreed yet, but the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, is working on the issue. All of us in this House acknowledge that front-line workers who put in an extra effort and made extra sacrifices during the pandemic, and continue to do so, should be rewarded in some way. Whether that is a financial bonus or additional annual leave needs to be discussed but I would have a strong view as well that it should not be limited to front-line workers in our health service. I have seen the enormous work done by civil servants in the Department of Social Protection making sure people got their pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, quickly. I know of the work staff in Revenue did making sure businesses got their employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, payments and staff in my Department did making sure businesses got the assistance they needed. Too often, we make this distinction between front-line workers and non-front-line workers, which does not fully appreciate that there is nothing you can do as a front-line worker if it were not for all of the people behind you.

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