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The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, said the predicted number of 400,000 job losses is a conservative figure.<\/p>\nThe Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, said the predicted number of 400,000 job losses is a conservative figure.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThis virus is presenting a once-in-a-century challenge to our society, it\u2019s testing our cohesion, our resilience, and actually probably our ability to respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst naturally this is first and foremost a public health challenge, it\u2019s also having and posing a very serious threat to the living standards and the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of Irish people.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the impact of the necessary public health measures are taking hold, many employers are facing very significant losses of revenue and with the consequential impact on employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s almost impossible to predict the scale of the employment loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019m on record of one day last week predicting that maybe some 400,000 jobs may go, but I actually believe that this is a conservative figure, because the job losses of the scale expected will pose a threat of significant societal effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s why since the crisis first began, we immediately introduced a system of emergency payments to get money into people\u2019s hands, fast, until we had designed a more robust response.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Doherty added: \u201cAs well as the temporary wage scheme that was announced, we are announcing a substantial increase in the weekly rate of payments for the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment to \u20ac350 per week.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo where an employer can\u2019t retain a worker or avail of the supports of the temporary wage subsidy scheme, then that employee will be able to access the emergency Covid-19 unemployment payment, which is now at a substantially higher range than it was when we introduced it only last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis level of payment has been chosen for maximum impact, particularly for the workers that have been laid off and the sectors that have been most seriously affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for example, the average take-home wage in the hospitality sector that has been so badly affected in the last week, is approximately \u20ac403 per week \u2013 that\u2019s their take-home pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cA new Covid-19 payment of \u20ac350 is approximately 80% of the value of that normal take-home pay.\u201d<\/p>\n