Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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644. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 863 of 27 May 2020, if a reply will issue to correspondence from a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9815/20]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business sets out how COVID 19 restrictions will gradually be lifted. However, I am aware of the issues for workers with childcare responsibilities, particularly for those working on the front line.

The Government has requested employers to be as flexible as possible in allowing staff, which could include partners of frontline workers, time off to look after their children or other members of their families. Some of the flexible options include offering paid compassionate leave, allowing employees to work from home, altering shifts so that employees can coordinate caring between themselves and partners or another person, allowing employees to rearrange holidays and allowing employees to take paid time off that can be worked back at a later time.

Where it is not possible to make appropriate compassionate leave arrangements, employees may be able to call on some statutory entitlements including force majeure leave, parental leave together with parental benefit or carers leave together with carers benefit or carers allowance.

If a parent has left work to care for a child because of school or childcare closures and the employer is no longer paying the person’s wages, they may qualify for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

I hope that this clarifies the position at this time.