The Government needs to scrap its plan for frontline pandemic bonus payments and a new bank holiday because it will burden future generations with increased debt, CEO of the Irish Small and Medium Business Association Neil McDonnell has said.
The call came as a prominent Limerick-based economics professor labelled pandemic bonuses as a “bad idea” and “a poor use of taxpayers funds”. Stephen Kinsella, associate Professor of Economics at the University of Limerick, said: “If you think about the grand challenges that we have to solve – decarbonisation, climate change, homelessness – none of these are going to be addressed by giving people a voucher.
ISME has also called for unions to “say no” to increased calls for frontline pandemic bonuses. Mr McDonnell said the trade union movement needs “the moral courage” to say the “bonus plans should not happen”. He called on Government to abandon the plans. Mr McDonnell cited the level of national debt to support his case – saying that in the last year we have added 50 Billion more debt.
McDonnell added that “people have lost the run of themselves” over bonus payments.”It is incumbent on us all, including ourselves as a trade association in ISME, to say this should not pass and we should not react to the pandemic by simply bestowing a public holiday,” he said.
Prof Kinsella said the cost of an additional bank holiday is bigger than the benefit.”You shouldn’t do it. The cost to the private sector is going to be in the hundreds of millions and the benefits for one sector tourism are going to be in the tens of millions,” he said. A recent analysis by Fáilte Ireland showed an extra bank holiday this year could generate up to €20 million in tourism revenue.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath said the Government plans to put forward a proposal in the coming weeks that “appropriately and sensitively” recognises the efforts of frontline workers during the pandemic.
