Briefing on the government's response to COVID-19 - Monday 25 May 2020

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

Good Morning.

Following another weekend of our progress through Phase 1 of the roadmap, I want to thank you for your continued effort in sticking with the public health guidance.

We continue to make progress in suppressing the virus and this is down to our collective efforts.

Remember limiting the number of people moving around helps protect everyone in our community, we need to control the virus in this phase, we want to continue to move forward, not backwards.

Again, we are asking for your perseverance in the short term, hopefully it will pay off in the long term.

As always, a reminder that the most effective way for you to help prevent the spread of the disease is to continue to practice the hygiene and safety measures recommended by public health experts.

• maintain social distancing at all times, even when meeting with friends or loved ones
• keep hands clean, wash them regularly and be mindful to avoid unnecessary touching of your face
• use good cough and sneeze etiquette

Almost 56,300 employers are now registered with Revenue for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Over 482,800 employees have now received at least one payment under the scheme. This does not include additional employees who may receive a subsidy as a result of payments generated today.

Today (25 May), Revenue has generated further payments to employers under the scheme of €30 million.

These payments will be in the bank accounts of the majority of the respective employers tomorrow (26 May).

The cumulative value of payments made to employers under the scheme is €1,115 million.

Today, approximately 579,000 people who were unemployed last week will receive their weekly payment of €350 under the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme.

This payment will be available in their nominated bank account or Post Office, tomorrow 26 May.

The overall value of the weekly payment is in the region of €202 million.

Last week, approximately 35,600 people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment returned to work as part of the first phase of the Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business.

These people are receiving their last unemployment payment this week. Anyone returning to work should close their claim as they return to work. If you are starting work later in the week, you should close your claim on the day you return to employment.

To close your unemployment claim, you should log on to gov.ie, click on the link for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and follow the instructions to close your claim.

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation have announced that the application form for the new €250 million Restart Grant providing direct grant aid to micro and small businesses is now available online on all local authority websites.

The Grant is aimed at helping micro and small businesses with the costs associated with reopening and reemploying workers following COVID-19 closures.

Eligible businesses who have stayed open throughout the crisis, as well as those who are reopening under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, are encouraged to apply now for the Restart Grant.

These applications will be prioritised for payment by the local authorities.

The grant will be equivalent to the rates bill of the business in 2019, or a minimum payment of €2,000, whichever is the higher, and will be subject to a maximum payment of €10,000.

All information including the application form will be available on your local authority website.

This direct grant support is part of the wider €12 billion package of supports for firms of all sizes, which includes The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, grants, low-cost loans, write-off of commercial rates and deferred tax liabilities, all of which will help to improve cashflow amongst our SMEs.

The Community Call Fora, run by the local authorities, continue to provide help and support to those in need in communities around the country.

Over the weekend, they received approximately 500 calls and made approximately 130 follow-up calls to people who have contacted them.

Nationally, since 31 March, the Community Call Fora have received approximately 41,500 calls and have made over 17,000 follow-up calls.

Remember, you can find your local Community Call helpline number here.

You can also contact ALONE on 0818 222 024 if you are experiencing difficulties or just want someone to talk to.

With so much going on in these strange times, I also want to remind you of some of the things we are keeping going.

This morning the Department of Rural and Community Development has announced details of the CLÁR Programme for 2020.

CLÁR provides funding for small scale infrastructural projects in rural areas that have suffered significant levels of population decline.

The supports provided through CLÁR have been tailored this year to help rural communities to respond to the new COVID-19 environment. This includes the addition of new funding measures.

The measures being funded under the 2020 CLÁR programme are:

• Measure 1: Schools/Community Safety measures (expanded in 2020)
• Measure 2: Community Recreation Areas (new in 2020)
• Measure 3: Community Wellbeing Supports, comprising:

- Meals on Wheels and linked services (new in 2020)

- Mobility and Cancer Care Transport

CLÁR is one element of a €30 million package of co-ordinated and complementary supports that is being launched this week as part of the government’s Rural Development Investment Programme.

Other elements of the programme to be opened later this week will be the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme.

Bloom at Home will encourage the Irish public to come together (apart) and Bloom from their own homes on Sunday 31 May.

It will showcase and support the food, drink and horticulture industries.

It will raise awareness around important issues such as climate change and sustainable food production as well as some of Ireland’s charities and not-for-profits who have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

On 31 May, RTÉ in partnership with Bord Bia will run a competition to encourage people to share images and videos of their gardens and plants on social media. To take part, simply share your image or video with the hashtag #BloomwithRTE on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter on the day.

Bloom at Home is part of the government’s #InThisTogether campaign.

The pandemic has meant a very different reality for us, and it is often difficult and stressful.

It is important that we all mind our mental and physical health and stay connected with each other when we have to stay physically apart.

To help with this, search #inthistogether and gov.ie/together for more initiatives like Bloom at Home.

More details on Bloom at Home will be announced later this week.

As I have mentioned here before, we would like to reassure anyone experiencing domestic abuse that local and national helplines and services are still available despite COVID-19.

These are difficult times, we know that. We are also very conscious of the changing circumstances victims are contending with during the emergency as the restrictions change.

We want you to know that support and assistance is still here for you.

No matter what your circumstances, no matter what the context, domestic abuse and sexual violence are criminal acts which will not be tolerated.

An Garda Síochána will continue to prioritise responding to your needs and we would encourage anyone in imminent danger to call An Garda Siochana on 999/112

The full range of State and community services are still available to you, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. More information to help victims find frontline services in their area is available on a dedicated website stillhere.ie.

The website includes an interactive map to help women and men find details of services close to them and we would encourage anyone who is feeling isolated or trapped to reach out for help.

I would also like to remind you that, if you are seeking help from a violent or abusive relationship, the 5km travel rule does not apply. You can travel to get to safety, and you can travel to seek help. That is an essential journey.

We would also like to remind you that Tusla’s child protection and welfare teams are still here, and are working to keep children as safe as possible in every community around the country during this time.

We are beginning to see more positive figures on referrals and we encourage anyone with a concern about the wellbeing or safety of a child to contact the local duty social work office where the child lives.

Please see tusla.ie for more information.

All referrals or concerns about children are being screened and assessed in line with normal practice and that where a child is at immediate risk, they receive an immediate protective response.

Essential services such as child protection, children in care, and domestic, sexual and gender based violence services continue to operate.

Regarding international travel, a reminder that the government continues to advise Irish citizens and residents against all non-essential international travel, and passengers arriving into Ireland from overseas are asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

On Friday, the government confirmed it will be obligatory for passengers arriving from overseas to complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form, which will capture contact details and details of where the passenger intends to self-isolate.

The Form will be used to facilitate a system of follow up checks to make sure people who travel to the country are staying where they said that they would.

The form will also ensure more accurate and expeditious contact tracing, should we have a confirmed case on a flight or ferry coming into Ireland.

The Regulations also introduce new offences for the following:

• if you fail to complete and give the form to a relevant person
• if you provide false or misleading information (whether on the form, when presenting the form, or in subsequent follow-up checks)
• if you fail to provide further information to a relevant person upon request (who suspects that the form has not been completed properly)
• if you fail to update residence or contact details if you change within 14 days of arrival into the State
• certified international transport workers, air and maritime pilot/masters and crew, will not have to complete the form

The Regulations will be effective from Thursday.

There is a lot of discussion and speculation about whether some of the public health advice and the Roadmap schedule of re-opening will change.

Firstly, on social distancing, the current advice from NPHET and the European Centre for Disease Control is that a distance of two metres should be observed between individuals.

That remains the public health advice from the government. Similar advice is in place in very many countries around the world.

We have to remember that the public health advice is there to save lives and protect people.

Thousands of lives have already been saved as a result of the Irish people observing public health guidelines on social distancing, personal hygiene, and restricting their movements. We can continue to save lives by following the advice.

Secondly, implementation of the Roadmap follows a risk-based approach. Any changes to the current restrictive social distancing measures must be slow and incremental.

This approach is essential, as going too far could also result in a sudden surge in infections. We need to know how we are getting on, phase by phase. That is why the phases are separated by 3 weeks – so we can assess the impact on the virus of each set of measures.

The government continues to make regular assessments of the existing restrictions. It also looks at the economic and social implications of the continued restrictions. However, they will remain in place for as long as they are needed to save more lives.

The government has also been working closely with employer and trade union representatives through the Labour Employer Economic Forum on a shared approach to a gradual re-starting of economic activity in a safe and measured way.

The approach to reducing measures will evolve as more information becomes available and in line with international learning and experience, in particular from countries ahead of Ireland in terms of their outbreak, to assess closely the effectiveness of their approaches to easing restrictions.

However, the advice for now is that social distancing guidelines continue to recommend a two-metre distance.

We are aware of recent queries on whether selling by appointment is allowed for product categories not included in the list of essential retailers under Phase 1 of the Roadmap.

At the moment, the overriding objective is for people to stay at home except for essential purposes.

Appointments to shop for homewares, furniture and other non-essential items are not part of the Phase 1.

The focus should remain on online ordering and delivery for those not opened in Phase 1.

We would like to clarify the situation regarding the PUP and Taxation.

Generally speaking, most income is liable to tax.

The amount of tax an individual pays depends on the amount of income they earn, on their personal circumstances and the tax credits they are entitled to.

In the main, payments from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) are taxable sources of income unless they are specifically exempt from tax.

They are subject to Income Tax (IT) but not Universal Social Charge (USC) or Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) is a taxable source of income.

Depending on an individual’s overall income during a year, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment may affect their overall tax liability for the year.

The payment is not taxable at the time of receipt from DEASP, however, the individual will be liable for tax on the PUP amount received at the end of the year when Revenue automatically reviews their tax position.

When an end of the year review takes place for a PAYE taxpayer, it may be the case that they have unused tax credits that will cover any tax owing that may arise.

Where a PAYE taxpayer owes tax, it is normal Revenue practice to collect any tax owing in manageable amounts by reducing tax credits for a future year or years in order to minimise any hardship. Additionally, if an individual has any additional tax credits to claim, for example health expenses, this will also reduce any tax that may be owing.

Today is Africa Day with celebrations this year taking place online. This year Irish Aid has teamed up with local authorities and community groups across Ireland to celebrate the links between Ireland and Africa.

Keep an eye on Twitter @AfricaDay, on Facebook at facebook.com/africadayireland and on Instagram @africadayireland.

Details about more Africa Day activities will be announced on the Africa Day website at africaday.ie.