Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation, which I hope deals with the last item of Covid legislation we will need as we emerge from the pandemic. It is important that we remain on our guard in respect of this, because we know the virus is still in our community and we cannot accurately predict the mutation of the virus in the time ahead, but we can hope that the worst of it is over.

The Bill mainly provides for the Covid-19 financial measures that were put in place following the outbreak of the Omicron variant. It will give legislative effect to the changes to certain Covid support schemes announced by the Government in December 2021 and January 2022. Sinn Féin supported those measures at the time, and we continue to support them.

The Bill provides for the reopening of the employment wage subsidy scheme for businesses which would otherwise not have had access to the scheme at that time, as they would not have been eligible, and that such businesses can continue to be supported until the scheme expires. The legislation also provides certain businesses which are no longer eligible to re-apply from 1 January from this year, a measure we proposed and supported.

The Bill also provides for businesses that were directly impacted by public health measures, introduced in December in response to the variant, such as the 8 p.m. closing time and the 50% capacity restriction to be able to avail of enhanced rates for the month of February with a more gradual and tapered step-down out of the scheme. Again, this is a measure we welcome.

The tax debt warehousing scheme has been crucial to support the liquidity of businesses. I welcome the extension of both the repayment dates and the interest-free period.

Another measure relating to the pandemic is the bonus payment to health workers, which is also included in the Bill. It is quite unbelievable that the Government would announce a bonus and five or six months later not one health worker has yet received the payment.

I would also like to mention family carers. It is terribly sad that family carers who went through such isolation, as services and respite were cancelled, who worked tirelessly night and day looking after and protecting their vulnerable patients, have got little or no recognition from the Government at all. We all know the work and services they provide. In their own way, they were front-line workers. For the life of me, I cannot understand the Government's unfair treatment of family carers.

As I indicated, Sinn Féin continues to support this legislation but we will put forward amendments on the next Stage, because my colleague, our finance spokesperson, Deputy Pearse Doherty, proposed amendments in the Dáil that I do not believe got enough consideration. It was a missed opportunity. I hope the Minister will reconsider them in the light of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, especially with regard to the rising cost of fuel.

Right down the west coast, 66% of people, or two out of three households, depend on home heating oil as their primary source of heating. Recently, home heating oil has reached astronomical prices. It cost €1,700 in March to fill a tank with oil. The price has more than doubled in the space of a year and many households cannot bear this cost. With Deputy Doherty's amendment, we propose to reduce the cost of filling a tank by €118. Many households simply cannot bear these price increases. Not only do households feel they have been forgotten by the Government, they feel they have been punished by it when the increase in carbon tax was allowed to go ahead. We also introduced proposals to reduce the cost of petrol and diesel.

The measures and legislation we have seen during the past year and addressed in this Bill show that there can be flexibility and, where there is a willingness, there is a way to meet the needs of society. Sinn Féin recognises that the Government cannot shield everyone from every price increase; however, we are fully aware that the Government can and should do more to support low- and middle-income households which, without support, cannot withstand these price increases without significant hardship.