Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We asked these workers to step up at the start of the Covid period. We asked them to do their jobs despite the risk of sickness and before they had the necessary personal protective equipment. We asked them to go into work morning after morning, as we all listened every evening to the news of rising case numbers. The people working in hospitals did not ask the Government to wait until we had all the information on symptoms or until there was a vaccine. They put the patients first and did what they did for them.

I appreciate the Minister of State's response. However, the payments to these groups must be accelerated. It is not clear from the response provided by the Department of Health what action is to be taken in this regard. There are ways to ensure there is equity and fairness in the process. Consideration could be given to processing batch payments to groups of employees that have been approved under the scheme, rather than leaving thousands of people waiting without any indication of a timeline for payment. When will those still waiting be paid? According to a response to a parliamentary question by Deputy Colm Burke, only 45% of staff in cohort 3 have received their payment to date.