I have received a response from the Minister for Health that demonstrates that his department are still posturing on the commitment to pay a covid bonus of €1,000 to healthcare workers.

“In my view the initial announcement was not properly thought out and the Department are now struggling to put a fair and reasonable bonus payment in place. This is adding further delay and to date no one has got a penny”.

“The bonus payment needs to be made and it cannot be selective, it needs to be for all health care workers, HSE, section 38 and section 39 workers who are all healthcare workers”.

The Minister is running the risk of dividing the healthcare workers into different categories based on their employment status even though they are all doing the same work.

“Healthcare workers need to be treated with respect and the Minister needs to face up to the commitments he has made and deliver the payment healthcare workers deserve”.