Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government acknowledges the contribution of our front-line healthcare workers and all workers across the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have faced difficult challenges and have risen to the task. As a Government, we have on many occasions stated our commitment to recognise these efforts. There were a number of issues that had to be taken into consideration before we could finalise our proposals and the pandemic has remained an ongoing challenge for us all, requiring our full focus and attention. We gave detailed consideration to these matters and yesterday the Cabinet approved the package of measures to recognise these efforts and to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Working together has been a key element of the Government’s approach to the pandemic to date and this is reflected in the approach announced yesterday. In particular, the value of the contribution of our healthcare workers on the front line cannot be overstated. The Deputy will be familiar with the measures we have introduced, including a public holiday on 18 March 2022 and then an annual public holiday on the first Monday of every February, or if 1 February falls on a Friday it will be held on that day; a tax free recognition payment of €1,000 for a range of workers, including public service health and ambulance workers who were working on-site in Covid-19 exposed environments, those seconded or assigned to the HSE, for example, our Defence Forces staff who were assigned to HSE testing centres, students who were required to perform training in clinical sites, and staff working on-site in private-sector nursing homes and hospices that were affected by Covid-19.

The Government recognises the immense work of so many people across different sectors of our economy and, indeed, of volunteers as well. In arriving at a conclusion on this issue, we felt the need to prioritise the front-line public health workers, in particular, who left their home and went to work in a high-risk environment at a time, particularly at the start of the pandemic, when the risks were unknown and thought to be really significant. That is why we singled out that group for this recognition payment.

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