Briefing on the government's response to COVID-19 - Monday 11 May 2020

Delivered by Elizabeth Canavan, Assistant Secretary General, Department of the Taoiseach

Good Morning.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for staying at home and sticking with the restrictions for another weekend. I know it seems like we have been staying at home for a long time now, however, because of your efforts we have seen considerable progress made in slowing the spread of the virus. As we move toward the first phase of the roadmap to reopen our society and economy, we need to continue to hold firm, to stick with the restrictions, to continue to supress the virus so we can begin to reopen Ireland.

One thing which won’t be changing and will be as important as ever is that we must continue to follow the public health advice in order to slow the spread of the virus:

• wash hands regularly and thoroughly
• use good cough and sneeze etiquette
• observe social distancing measures

For as long as COVID-19 is with us, these are measures which we must keep even as we begin to re-open our country. These habits will have to become part and parcel of our everyday life.

As you know, the government published the Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business on Friday 1 May. It sets out the 5 phases that we plan to move through as the spread of the virus continues to ease. We know that many businesses and sectors, both employers and employees are already reading the roadmap to see how it affects them and to begin to prepare for adapting to the changes outlined in the plan.

Government has introduced a number of supports to help with this process. On Saturday, the Return to Work Safely Protocol was published. The protocol clearly and comprehensively sets out the steps and processes that businesses must take to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

The Return to Work Safely Protocol is designed to support employers and workers to put measures in place that will prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace when the economy begins to open up, following the temporary closure of most businesses during the worst phase of the current pandemic.

The protocol is to be used by all workplaces to adapt their workplace procedures and practices to comply fully with the COVID-19 related public health protection measures identified as necessary by the HSE. These measures are to protect everyone – employers, staff, clients and customers.

We know many businesses and employers are already considering how to apply public health advice in their own areas and we are encouraging everyone to fully engage with these resources to help them get back to business safely.

The protocol was developed and agreed in consultation with the members of the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF), which is the forum for high-level dialogue between Government and union and employer representatives on labour market issues. Participants in this process included IBEC, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Chambers Ireland and the Construction Industry Federation.

It is the result of a collaborative effort, led by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, and involving the Health and Safety Authority, the Department of Health and the HSE.

The environment that we face is rapidly changing, and we need to be able to quickly respond to those changes. The protocol is to help businesses cope with the new way of working and it will be a living document. We will be looking for feedback on how it is working and whether changes need to be made to elements of it as the situation evolves.

In order to oversee this transition, a high-level consultative stakeholder forum, under the aegis of LEEF, will be established. This forum will include membership from the various bodies with responsibility for health and safety at work and for public health more generally. The forum will allow for ongoing engagement at national level on implementation issues in light of evolving public health advice and other factors.

You can read the protocol and details of all of the government supports available to businesses on Item was unpublished or removed

There are now over 53,200 employers registered with Revenue for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and 456,200 employees have now received at least one payment under scheme.

This does not include additional employees who may receive a subsidy as a result of payments generated today.

As of today (11 May), Revenue has generated further payments to employers under the scheme of €13 million.

These payments will be in the bank accounts of the majority of the respective employers tomorrow (12 May).

The cumulative value of payments made to employers under the scheme is €878 million.

A temporary voluntary fleet tie-up scheme for some vessels of the fishing fleet has been announced.

The Scheme has been put in place recognising that fishing sector has been hard hit by the severe market disruption in Europe and internationally caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure of many markets and disruption of established distribution channels, particularly to restaurants and the food service industry domestically and internationally, has seen market demand and sale prices drop very substantially in many of our key markets. The Scheme gives the fishing fleet another option to help match supply with demand in the seafood markets. Eligible vessels will be supported to voluntarily opt to tie up for one or two of the next three months, operational from 1 June 2020 and availability will be extended to the inshore fleet and to larger vessels.

This will allow the industry to better match fishing activity with market demand – it will support a portion of our fleet who voluntarily choose to tie up, while others continue fishing. The Scheme is designed to complement the COVID-19 wage supports and loan arrangements already being provided by Government to the fishing sector and indeed other sectors of our economy.

Vessel owners may apply to BIM to tie-up their vessels for one or two months out of three from 1 June to 31 August. The scheme will be kept under review on a monthly basis and should markets improve, the scheme may be closed before the next tie up period comes into operation.

Further details of the scheme, who is eligible and how to apply are on gov.ie.

Today, approximately 589,000 people will receive their weekly payment of €350 under the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme.

This is the first time that the overall total has decreased (by approximately 9,000) since this scheme commenced in mid-March.

The value of the weekly payment is in the region of €206 million.

Approximately 98,000 people have now contacted the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in order to close their claim.

It is possible to do so by logging on to Item was unpublished or removed and accessing the close claim option.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is aware that some people have received fraudulent text messages stating they are due a COVID-19 Pandemic Payment, and asking them to click on a link to apply.

We wish to categorically confirm that these texts are not from the government. Anyone who receives such a text message should not click on the link or reply to the text.

We wish to remind people that the Citizens Information Service and Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) are available and are continuing to provide support to the public over this period. The CIS can help with issues such as social welfare matters, housing and family supports. For further information, please see Item was unpublished or removed

The Community Call Fora, run by the local authorities, continue to provide help and support to those in need in communities around the country. Yesterday, they received over 300 calls and made approximately 80 follow-up calls to people who have contacted them.

Nationally, since 31 March, the Community Call Fora have received over 33,000 calls and have made approximately 14,000 follow-up calls.

Remember, you can find your local Community Call helpline number on gov.ie.

You can also contact ALONE on 0818 222 024 if you are experiencing difficulties with physical and mental health, finance, loneliness and other challenges.

As you know, many charities and voluntary organisations have not been able to carry out funding work due to COVID-19.

In response to this, the Department of Rural and Community Development has established a €40 million COVID-19 support package.

This initiative will help alleviate funding challenges faced by organisations most in need, including Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises.

The package consists of:

• a €35 million ‘COVID-19 Stability Fund’ which will provide a level of support to qualifying organisations who are most in need and have seen their trading and/or fundraising income drop significantly during the crisis
• a €5 million government commitment to a Philanthropy Fund, (Innovate Together) which will focus on supporting responses to the COVID-19 crisis that require innovative and adaptive solutions to existing and emerging challenges

Please note that the application process for the Stability Fund is an online process. This process opens today and will close on Wednesday 20 May at 5pm.

More details on the package and the application process can be found on gov.ie.

The travel restrictions imposed across the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the widespread cancellation of holidays during March, April and May, with many people having to postpone holiday, wedding and honeymoon plans. Under the EU Travel Package Directive, people who have had to cancel such bookings because of the COVID-19 travel are entitled to a cash refund, and that entitlement will continue to apply.

However, it is also the case that many travel agents and tour operators are having severe cash flow problems, and it is not clear that all of them will be able to meet all of their current cash refund obligations and at the same time be able to stay in business.

The government has therefore agreed to back a new refund credit note that travel agents and tour operators can offer their customers.

The refund credit note will work as follows:

1. It can be to the full value of the refund due or the refund can be split into part credit note, part cash.

2. It will be issued with a future redeemable date, and on that date, it can be exchanged for its cash value, or can be used to book a replacement holiday.

3. It will be State-guaranteed in the event that the travel agent or tour operator becomes insolvent.

For further information, please click here.

As you know, on Friday the government decided to postpone the Leaving Cert 2020. Students are being offered the option of receiving Calculated Grades for the subjects they are studying and the alternative of sitting the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a date in the future when it is considered safe to hold the examinations.

I wanted to summarise some of the key elements of the process for you:

• teachers will be asked to provide a professional judgment of each student’s attainment which will be subjected to a rigorous in-school alignment process to ensure fairness
• the school principal will approve the estimated scores being provided and the rankings of each student in each subject in the school
• a special unit is being established within the Department of Education and Skills to process the data provided by each school and operate national standardisation, again to ensure fairness amongst all students
• the department will finalise the grades for each student which will be issued to each student as close as possible to the traditional date. Formal State certification will also be provided
• students will retain the right to appeal. This will involve checks on school-entered data; correct transfer of that data to the department; a review that it was correctly received and processed by the department; and a verification of the department’s processes by independent appeal scrutineers
• students will also retain the right to the sit the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a date in the future when it is deemed safe for state examinations to be held

We know that students, parents, guardians and teachers have lots of question and there is detailed guidance documentation, Frequently Asked Questions and advice on wellbeing and mental health of Leaving Certificate students available on gov.ie/leavingcertificate.

New emergency measures to support essential health workers who are having difficulty meeting their childcare needs have been announced. This forms part of Phase 1 of the government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business.

The service will be for parents / guardians defined as essential health workers during the COVID-19 emergency.

The delivery of childcare services to this group follows government plans to lift restrictions gradually and in line with public health advice and recommendations. The scheme is designed to protect children, their families and the childcare practitioners who will offer this new service.

Existing, registered childcare services will be asked to consider signing up for the service and opening as an outreach hub. They will be asked to support essential healthcare workers by offering childcare in those families’ homes. Tusla-registered services will be invited to participate. All staff taking part will be experienced early learning and care or school-age childcare practitioners who have been Garda vetted.

A number of early learning and care and school-age childcare services have already indicated their willingness to support vital health staff. Pobal, which will assist the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with the administration of the new initiative, may focus initially on larger full-day services, but all services are being asked to consider signing up for the scheme.

It is acknowledged that many childcare practitioners will not be available to take part due to their own parenting or caring responsibilities, but those who are in a position to contribute to this element of Ireland’s emergency call, are asked to consider doing so.

Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta

Finally, I wanted to mention an initiative here. As we know, 6th class students will not be able to say goodbye to their classmates, their teachers and their school in the normal way this year.

That’s why Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta are inviting all 6th class students in the Gaeltacht to write about their memories of school and of their experiences since schools closed.

These pieces will all be put together in a book and published before the end of the school year.

A copy of the book will be given to every school and every student that took part so that they will have a special book of memories to compensate for the strange end to this school year.

For more information on how to participate, see gov.ie.