Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In his statement the Minister of State has recognised that those who faced the highest risk have got the payment but that only includes those who faced the highest risk and who work in the public sector. There are many other people who faced such risk. If it was not for the likes of the Simon Communities and all of those homeless agencies who provide a front-line service every day, the State would have to involve itself in those services and it would have to pay those people because they would be public service employees. I find it really difficult to understand why there is a differentiation when it comes to the people in those services who are front-line workers, as the Minister of State admits consistently in his statement and as has been consistently admitted by the Minister. That was the basis for why the payment was made in the first place. When there were no vaccinations, when we knew nothing about Covid-19 and when we were hearing horror stories coming from Italy and China of people dying on a daily basis, there was huge fear and we asked those people on the front line to go into their jobs to work with the most vulnerable and highest risk people every single day. They donned their PPE gear, carried out all the health and safety measures and did everything that was asked of them. They were and they are the essence of front-line workers, along with the brilliant work the public service front-line workers did. I would like to point out that the death in service ex gratiascheme for healthcare workers includes those in homeless and outreach services. If one dies in service, one is included in this but if one worked through and is still working through the pandemic, one is not included. I find that deeply unfair.

See this speech in context