Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1020. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Defence the engagement that he has had with his Department, representative bodies and the Minister for Health and the HSE regarding the payment of the pandemic bonus of €1,000 to the members of the Defence Forces who were on the front line during the Covid pandemic. [40894/22]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, on 19 January 2022, the Government announced a COVID-19 recognition payment for front-line public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. The payment of €1,000 will not be subject to income tax, USC, or PRSI. The Government announcement also made provision for a pro-rata application of the payment.
The measure will be ring fenced to staff ordinarily onsite in COVID-19 exposed healthcare environments within the period between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2021, and will be applied to those eligible public sector front-line healthcare staff (inclusive of agency staff working for the HSE) who worked in clinical settings. At Government level, the Department of Health has primary policy responsibility for this initiative and it is currently working on progressing the modalities of payments, for those non-HSE employees that are covered by this Government decision. It is also engaging with the relevant employers on the process to implement this measure for their eligible staff.
Certain redeployed members of the Defence Forces, who worked in front line COVID-19 exposed environments in the HSE, fall under the umbrella of eligibility regarding this payment. To this end, Officials in my Department have engaged with and will remain in regular contact with the Department of Health to discuss the roll-out of the PRP, for eligible DF personnel. It is important to note that ultimate interpretation of the scheme is a matter for the Minister for Health, with consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
At the appropriate juncture, once clarity on the sectoral modalities and implementation of the PRP to DF personnel has been finalised and received from the Department of Health, the Representative Associations will be duly consulted.
