Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister very much for coming to the House. I join with Senators Malcolm Byrne and Gavan in condemning the protests outside every Government Minister's house, and in particular the Minister's own house. It is simply not acceptable in our democracy that the families of public representatives would be targeted in that way. I express that solidarity.

As the Minister will know better than the rest of us, a number of very serious changes were announced this week. There was the sudden abandonment of the subsidisation of antigen tests. There was the announcement late last night, just over 24 hours ago, of the required mask wearing in schools. We are now going to have the rush to reintroduce legislation for mandatory health quarantining. Of course, all of that is taking place with a cut to the EWSS today and a cut to the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, two weeks ago. What kind of a message is all of this sending out? We are really in the middle of a war in the context of this global pandemic, and in the course of a war, communications are vital, as the Minister knows well. The Government has been all over the place in recent days. If the Minister wants to keep the public with the Government, then the Government really needs to up its game in communication, in ensuring that workers and families are communicated with clearly and that livelihoods are protected.

None of us want to see the reimposition of restrictions but we accept that because Covid levels have been so high some measures have had to be taken, for example with the night-life sector. Yet, the repeated message from the Government is that the PUP cannot be reopened and that it is okay to cut the PUP because there are labour shortages at present. What kind of a message does this send to a DJ or a bouncer on the door of a nightclub? Is it that they should go away and get a job in a cafe? We really must bring the public with us around whatever measures need to be taken to contain this pandemic.

The messaging from the Government has been alarming to me over recent weeks, given the lack of dignity and the lack of respect shown to certain workers in this country. I am struck that even IBEC called for a continuation of the EWSS into the spring of next year, and yet the Government has gone ahead and cut it. The Minister will say that he is responsible for the Department of Health and that is extremely onerous in itself, but the Minister also knows that this is a battle in keeping the public healthy and keeping people onside for the measures that need to be undertaken. Protecting livelihoods has to be a vital part of that message.

I am also struck by the five-day rule. Retail workers have approached us, as has Mandate, which is the representative union of most retail workers. Mandate has said that some workers have expressed to the union a real concern that they will not be able to stay at home from work for those five days, even though they are vaccinated and may be asymptomatic, if they are a close contact. They need to earn that money and particularly in the run-up to Christmas. At the end of the day, the Covid illness benefit is only 56% of the average earnings for a retail worker. It remains the case that as of today, we have no paid sick leave in this country. I am aware that the pre-legislative scrutiny of that legislation is currently being undertaken, which is great, but the Government is simply being too slow. We now have situation where we badly need that paid sick leave. We cannot afford for workers to feel that they have to go into work because otherwise, they would be out of pocket.

For many months now, many Members in this House and across the parties have been calling for antigen testing to be rolled out on a substantial scale in order to support many sectors in this economy and in society. There has been a degree of resistance. There was a debate between NPHET and the Government with regard to that. There was an announcement that we were to have subsidisation of antigens testing and that the Government was prepared to squander millions of euro effectively subsidising retailers for those antigen tests. Then there was the withdrawal of that proposal on Monday. Again, what message are we sending out with regard to antigen testing? The Government needs to negotiate with a number of manufacturers, be far more cost-effective, and ensure that antigen tests are made freely and widely available to people in order that such testing can become part and parcel of household life from here on out. It is vital to the support of sectors and for jobs and for schools to continue to remain open that antigen tests are deployed on a wide basis.