Donohoe to examine UK plan to pay 80% of salaries

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe says he is interested in how a UK proposal to cover up to 80 per cent of the wages of employees laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic will operate.

The 80 per cent UK rate compares to the fixed €203 per week pandemic unemployment payment made available by the Irish Government.

Speaking on The Late Late Show on Friday night Mr Donohue said he said he heard "with great interest" the announcement from the UK government that they will cover up to 80 per cent of the wages of employees unable to work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I'm very interested to see the detail, the cost, how it will work… If I'd announced something like that earlier on today, you'd expect me to be on your show this evening saying how it would work, when it would be available and how much it will cost," he said told host Ryan Tubridy.

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“What I’m more interested in is how we can support our own citizens in a time of need in a way that we can do and that is credible,” he said.

Regarding whether the €203 per week pandemic unemployment payment will be enough for people paying mortgages, rent, health insurance and other living costs, Mr Donohue said: “I know for many people that will be a real challenge.

“I accept that for many it’s not enough and we need to consider that, but we need to do something really quickly for those at risk of losing their jobs,” he said.

The Government is considering a proposal under which it could increase the €203 payment and pay up to three-quarters of the wages of thousands of staff who have been laid off as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the interim, the Government on Friday night announced changes to its existing financial support arrangements, which would allow employers to top up the Covid-19 unemployment payment of €203 per week offered by the State to the 140,000 people who have lost their jobs in the past week.

Sources said Ministers were now looking at a broader scheme similar to measures being introduced elsewhere in Europe and the UK, where the government has committed to pay 80 per cent of wages, up to £2,500 per month, for people out of work as a result of the pandemic.

While acknowledging the concerns around the €203 payment, Mr Donohue said: “We have to be highly responsive. None of us could have imagined something like this could have happened as quickly as it did.

“Coming up with [THE PAYMENT], designing it, figuring out how we would make it available to lots of people really quickly in normal times could have taken a year to do. In these times it was done in a few days.”

He reassured viewers that the country “Will get through this and we will rebuild our economy. We will get back to a place that will be different to the place we’ve just left, but it will be so much better than where we are today.”

“To all who have experienced job losses and income losses with a suddenness we didn’t think was possible, I want to assure them we will do all we can for those who are now without a job. We can overcome this great challenge.”