Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. While this Bill is welcome, it comes very late for many workers who have worked hard in the workplace, and have been let very badly down. The Bill is technical in nature and comprises four sections. The purpose of the legislation is to provide for the making of a once-off State-funded payment to workers facing redundancy who have lost the opportunity to procure reckonable service due to layoffs caused by the Covid-19 restrictions. The proposed legislative change is intended to ensure that such workers will receive full redundancy entitlements, as though they had not been laid off during the emergency period of 13 March 2022 to 30 September 2021 and to ensure that employers are not burdened with that cost to enhance their recovery viability. Government-mandated restrictions have caused workers to lose the opportunity to procure reckonable service through no fault of their own or their employers. For this reason, a reckonable service Covid-19-related payment is to be funded by the State based on the duration of the Covid-19 restrictions. The maximum State payment to which a person made redundant will be entitled to is €1,860 tax-free if they were laid off for the entire period of the restrictions and were earning €600 or more per week. Payments for periods of layoffs arising from Covid-19 restrictions will be made by the Department of Social Protection out of the Social Insurance Fund.

It is envisaged that payments through the scheme will be operational for a period of three years until 1 October 2024. People who have already been made redundant since March 2020 and who have been laid off due to the Covid-19 will be covered under the scheme.

When we are talking about workers' rights, I have many constituents who have so many issues in respect of pensions and miscommunications between the various Departments. I have one lady who can prove she has made 520 contributions and yet she cannot receive her pension. Mind you, she received it initially but it was then taken from her.

I know of another very ill man who was self-employed for years. When he applied for illness benefit he was turned down. He then applied for invalidity benefit and he was again turned down. The problem was that he did not have enough contributions from the previous years and the reason for this was that he was too ill to work or claim any welfare payment.

This system is not good enough and measures need to be put in place for exceptional cases and to allow deciding officers to use a little bit of discretion for extreme cases. Let us face it, a little bit of cop on should be used for people in extreme circumstances and for people who have worked extremely hard all their lives and deserve a break. There is nothing more upsetting than having to tell somebody who is very ill and has a large number of bills and overheads and a family that they are entitled to nothing. It is terrible to have to say that to them. Their social welfare office will try every measure from every angle, even contacting the Minister, although not personally but her Department, to see if there is any possibility a payment can be made to a person who is very ill and is a deserving case. Proof from accountants, doctors and medical people are provided but this still does not work as it falls between two stools, which is a terribly unfair situation.

This Bill probably comes too late for Debenhams workers. Much has been said about them today, with, in fairness, well-voiced concerns expressed about the way these workers were treated, which was appallingly. I know some of these workers who are from my end of west Cork and I was in contact with them during their crisis. To be honest with the Minister of State, there was little compassion shown in here for the Debenhams workers. Some of these workers had worked all their lives and knew nothing about protesting. They only joined the protest because they were in extreme circumstances and were left there by the State. The State sometimes needs to stand up with a strong voice coming from its leadership. That might send a message. Perhaps Debenhams is above listening to the people.

We have the same situation in west Cork with Cara Lodge residential treatment centre where 27 employees working in west Cork’s only addiction treatment centre for teenage boys was closed in September 2020 due the Covid-19. Given that this was the only addiction centre, one must ask whether addiction ended and whether people need that service any more. Of course, they need that service. There were teams of professionals there who worked with the teenagers. There were administrative staff, cooks, cleaners and maintenance crews. The redundancy situation which arose from that was a nightmare for these workers. They lost their jobs and they could not understand why. A great deal of shenanigans was going on behind the scenes and nobody had the decency to put their hand up and give the full reasons the centre was closing. Mind you, I hear it has reopened recently under another heading but it is the people who spent years working with these young people there that we must consider. I spoke to many young people who had come out the other side. The users of the service were so hurt to think that others who could be in the same circumstances could end up not getting that service and that the employees had lost their jobs after spending many years working there. On top of losing their jobs then, redundancy became a nightmare for them.

Unfortunately, no constituency escapes redundancy and it reaches every one of them. It certainly leaves a sting in the tail, however, for many people if back-ups or supports for workers are not there. To lose one’s job is a daunting experience for many when the right supports are not there and it leaves people feeling extremely vulnerable.

I plead with the Minister of State to address the issues I have mentioned, namely, extreme illnesses and pain. He may not be the Minister of State in charge of that area but he might sit down with his colleagues and look at a situation where a payment can be made to people in those circumstances.

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