An estimated 66,000 people are awaiting their €1,000 recognition payment for Covid-19 frontline workers.
Speaking to the Oireachtas Health Committee today, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said more that 190,000 workers are entitled to the tax-free payment. He confirmed today that around 124,000 have already received the payment to date.
The payment was first mooted late last year and formally announced in January as a gesture of gratitude for the work of healthcare employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both full-time and part-time healthcare professionals who worked in environments where the virus was present for at least four weeks between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, are qualified for the reimbursement.
They include staff in private nursing homes, porters and cleaners in healthcare facilities, hospice workers, student nurses, employees at HSE test centres, and members of the Defense Forces who have been seconded to work in the medical field.
Both full-time and part-time employees are eligible for the payout, however the latter's amount is determined pro-rata.
Employees who left or changed jobs during the period are also eligible, but they must submit a declaration form by the end of June in order to receive payment.
Although payments have been made this year, there are still concerns regarding why some employees get their salary and others do not.
Donnelly told the committee that although he would have preferred for people to receive their payments during the summer, the "most should be paid before Christmas."
According to the minister, many of the claims from outside employers have only recently reached the government. He said that he expects such claims can be completed before Christmas.
