SDLP Foyle MLA Ma\rk H Durkan
Mr Durkan had urged Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey to work alongside the Health Minister and the Executive Office to establish a scheme.
Said the Foyle MLA: “I am disappointed that Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey has denied my proposal to establish a financial support package for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) individuals who cannot work from home.
“Guidance issued in December stated that CEV people who are working and are unable to do so from home are advised not to attend the workplace.
“To date those individuals are only eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
“Clearly the rate of SSP is not an adequate substitute for the income these individuals are being advised to forego on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer.
“Minister Hargey’s request to the Secretary of State for Working Pensions to increase SSP does not go far enough.
“Not only that but in doing so, she passes the buck to Westminster, further delaying support for vulnerable people when her own department can and should be doing everything in their power to deliver a sufficient support package.
“Providing CEV individuals with SSP rather than 80% of wages – in line with the furlough scheme – undermines the public health efforts and will force many CEV people to choose between their health and paying their bills.
“It is completely unacceptable that people have essentially been given a Hobson’s choice during a pandemic.
“I have also sought clarity from Health Minister Robin Swann as to whether GP letters for CEV people will be reissued given the subsequent extension of Covid restrictions until March.”
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