People Before Profit says that Ireland needs at least three more bank holidays.
OPPOSITION POLITICIANS HAVE said that an extra bank holiday to recognise the efforts of essential workers would represent “crumbs from the table” from government.
Work is underway within government departments to devise a so-called “Covid bonus”, with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar saying that a bank holiday and tax credits are among the measures under consideration.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting today, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said the government would “need to be careful not to adopt a divisive approach” to such a pandemic bonus.
She said that Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath were “examining this matter” with the intention of bringing a proposal to Cabinet.
It is expected that such plans could be announced on Budget day in a fortnight’s time.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Solidarity TD Mick Barry said that “a lasting tribute” to the work of essential workers would be “a serious increase” in the minimum wage up to €15 per hour.
The current minimum wage is €10.20 per hour but the government has signalled that an increase is likely.
“If they think that a measly bank holiday and a few crumbs off the table is going to satisfy the demand of working people for a Covid bonus, then they would want to be thinking again,” Barry said.
Workers sacrificed in order to help drag this country through the pandemic. You raised the issue of deaths, workers on the frontline died and not just in the health service. Workers got sick and had long Covid, fatigue, stress, all kinds of mental health pressures. They deserve some reward for that. I’m talking about public sector workers and I’m talking about private sector workers here, the likes of our retail workers, cleaners, many of whom worked through the pandemic on wages that were so low that they struggled to pay the rent.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett said that his party has previously published a bill to legislate for three more bank holidays per year rather than the one being suggested by government.
“We published a bill in the summer to introduce three new bank holidays and now he’s proposing one. As far as we’re concerned, we need a lot more than one additional bank holiday, not just as a payback for the work that essential workers and frontline workers did during Covid, but also the fact that we have less statutory and bank holidays than most countries in Europe,” he said.
