Coronavirus: Full sick pay required for those who must stay at home to mind children

• Full sick pay required for those who must stay at home to mind children

• Childcare workers need full pay during crisis

• Alternative childcare necessary for healthcare workers

“With schools and childcare centres shut, it is essential that full sick pay is implemented for those who must stay at home to mind children. Paul Murphy TD will be advocating for this to be included in the new Illness Benefit legislation to be passed by the Dail next week. Otherwise, grandparents, who are in the vulnerable section of the population, will end up minding a huge number of the country's children, putting themselves at risk.

"Childcare workers need to be guaranteed full pay for the course of this crisis. For childcare centres which only provide the ECCE year, they will continue to get full state support and should therefore continue to pay their staff. For other childcare centres, which may be losing substantial income, where the centre is unable to pay staff full wages, the state should make up the difference

“Alternative childcare arrangements need to be put in place immediately for healthcare workers, so they are not hampered from their work on the front line of dealing with the coronavirus crisis. ICTU should convene a remote meeting of trade unionists to discuss the needs of workers impacted by the schools closing. It's vital that workers are involved in shaping the state response to the crisis."