Democracy needs to come from the ground up we need for all the people see demoracy in action. Each indidvual needs to be able to voice their concern or idea as long as it is not harmful or discriminatory to anyone else in or outside the EU. Then this collective voice needs to be brought to Europe and listened to

In this together Or are we? The nice shiny ‘reality’ is we are all in the same storm – together. The harsh facts are, we might all be in the same storm, but we are not in the same boat. Women, mothers, returning to work from unpaid maternity leave, have been exiled to sea, in an unseaworthy boat. As you read this remember, that the majority of women on maternity leave in Ireland, are unpaid, with the exception of civil and public servants and a limited number of women employed in large private businesses. For the 26 weeks of their protected leave, mothers receive statutory maternity benefit provided by the state, provided she has made enough PRSI contributions. If you are a mother returning to work after maternity leave, a specially protected period of leave, enshrined in under Irish law with The Maternity Protection Acts, 1994-2004 and under EU Directive 92/85 EEC exists. These laws mean that if you have been on maternity leave, additional maternity leave, father’s leave, additional father’s leave or health and safety leave, you are entitled to: 1. return to work with the same employer or the new owner (if there was a change of owner); 2. the same job under the same contract as you had before; and 3. terms and conditions that are as good as those you had before and that include any improvements that you would have enjoyed if you hadn’t been absent. These are your legal rights as a citizen of this country and of the EU. They are not a privilege or something to be thankful for. A global pandemic does not change or impact these rights. Yet, if you are a mother in Ireland in 2020 returning from maternity leave, you are faced with total financial uncertainty and a complete lack of support. As you think about the scenario I am about to describe, replace the word mother or she, with your mother, your partner, your daughter, your sister, your niece or any woman that you know, love and cherish. The woman that you are thinking about, the person you love and care for, if she was on unpaid maternity leave during Covid-19, she is faced with a bleak choice, which amounts to a deeply unpalatable set of circumstances, different to any other worker in Ireland. If any other worker lost their job through Covid-19, if your income was reduced, or if you cannot work from home, whether self-employed or in employment, you can benefit from the Covid-19 payment or the temporary wage subsidy scheme. If however, you are a mother returning from unpaid maternity leave, you might be in the same storm as the rest of us but you are certainly not in that same boat. As a mother returning from maternity leave, your job is legally protected, however, if the business you work for is deemed an essential service, so remains open, or is about to reopen on May 18th, you are in a uniquely underprivileged situation. Remember all creches and childcare facilities are closed, and grandparents cannot help. At this point, a mother returning to work faces bleak options. Her employer can leave her job open to her, until childcare returns, but not pay her. So far, she is no different from any other employee, except, she is, as she cannot claim the temporary wage subsidy scheme. ‘The Scheme is confined to employees who were on the employer’s payroll as at 29 February 2020, and for whom a payroll submission was made to Revenue in the period from 1 February 2020 to 15 March 2020.’ Simply put this means that a mother, who was on unpaid maternity leave, who is due to return to work after March 15th 2020, would not have been on payroll at the times stipulated by the legislation. If she was not on the payroll at that stage, the legislation specifically excludes her from the temporary wage subsidy scheme. The ‘confinement of the scheme to…’ exclusively omits one group of workers from the remit of the legislation: mothers returning to work after maternity leave. If her employer informs her that she has no job to return, her employer is then in breach of the Maternity Protection Acts, and EU Legislation. While this gives her recourse to take legal action, and avail of Covid-19 payments, the capacity to do so is the reserve of those who can afford it, and a massive financial burden on a woman with no income. The reality is she now has no job and will struggle to find a reference to find another one. Her other option is to ‘voluntarily’ leave her job. However, if she ‘voluntarily’ leaves her job she is excluded from claiming the Covid-19 payment. If she ‘voluntarily’ leave her job, she must then wait nine weeks before she can apply for social welfare payments. What does she do? How would you advise your mother, wife, partner, sister, daughter or friend faced with this disgusting decision? There is no advice. This is wrong. It fails our mothers and it fails our children. Let them move from words to action ideally, by passing an amendment to the emergency legislation that extends paid maternity leave for all mothers during Covid-19. This extension to their specially protected period of leave ensures their return to work, when it is possible, while also providing some financial security. If it is not possible to extend the statutory maternity leave, including the sentence, ‘with the exception of mothers returning to the workplace during Covid-19, who were on specially protected leave when financial supports were put in place’ to the Covid-19 payment or the Temporary Wage Subsidy scheme helps. This wrong must be fixed IMMEDIATELY and let us stand together, properly, for all women. Listen to Today with Sarah McInerny on RTE, speaking to Richard Grogan to hear more.

Yesterday it was reported that a female worker from East Timor, Luciana Viviana da Silva (58), who worked at Moy Park’s Dungannon site, died from coronavirus. Covid19 clusters are rising in workplaces in the meat and poultry industries, which have been recognised to be particularly high risk for workers. Action must be taken now to ensure the scale of outbreaks in meat industry in the USA and Brazil are not repeated in Northern Ireland.

Covid 19 made abundantly clear that our existing health services needed radical transformation to cope with the pandemic. Insufficient hospital bed capacity, too few intensive care beds, too few hospital nurses and staff, glaring structural defects accumulated over decades, as well as two separate health services on an island of 6.6 million inhabitants, were shown up as markedly inadequate. The lack of PPE and other public health resources for testing, contact tracing and protecting older people in nursing homes or health and social care workers arose from the absence of a coordinated, efficient national health service. The situation required the enactment of measures which would have been unthinkable pre-Covid 19. The budget of the Health Service Executive was expanded by €1 billion and the recruitment embargo on nurses and other key staff lifted. North and South, agreements were secured with private hospitals that they would temporarily operate as public hospitals, open to both Covid 19 and non-Covid 19 patients. In the South, patients with Covid-19 are being treated as public patients in what the caretaker Fine Gael government itself has lauded as a single national hospital service with no private-public distinction. If the extension of public healthcare can happen in a pandemic, why not also in ‘normal’ health crisis times? Why can it not be used to address the waiting lists of at least 700,000 in the South, 300,000 in the North? To address the totally inadequate step- down facilities or the lack of home care support? Or to enable everyone to have free access to GPs? The measures taken have shown that a comprehensive public health service is both possible and indispensable for providing healthcare to all when they need it. However, the Dublin government’s deal with the private hospitals, while a welcome step of making private hospitals public, is also costing the public purse €115 million a month. This continues the policy of shoring up the private sector with public money, a policy which has been shown in the North to undermine the ability of the NHS to provide timely cradle to grave treatment, free at the point of use.

In light of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown maternity leave/ maternity benefit should be extended by 3 months for those who's maternity leave was affected by the lockdown. With all childcare facilities being closed many parents face issues of where to leave their babies, with facing loosing their jobs if they have nowhere to leave them. Maternity leave is time when you and baby can attend baby groups, spend time with family, attend needed appointments and with a country being in lockdown none of these things are happening. Many babies have not met their family members or met other babies to socialise in baby groups, these things are vital for baby development, bonding and educating for babies and their parents. Due to COVID-19 many of us are scared to leave our homes and bring babies outside, with the uncertainty of when this is going to end, maternity leave and maternity benefit should be extended giving families reassurance and support. Follow us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ExtendMatLeave2020/ or on Twitter @matleave2020

That’s why we have to fight to make sure big businesses like Keelings put the health of the people who work for them at the centre of all their decisions during this pandemic. That includes a decent living wage, proper protective equipment, good working conditions, safe accommodation and the ability to social distance. Some people will try to use this to divide us. But we know better. That’s why we all need to stand with the people who work on fruit farms to push for the safe working environments every single one of us deserves.

The decision by Debenhams management to put the company into voluntary liquidation is opportunistic and cynical. Bank of Ireland is a part-owner of the business, along with Barclays, Silver Point Capital and GoldenTree. It beggars belief that an Irish bank bailed out by the Irish taxpayer, would place a company into liquidation without any negotiations with workers on a fair redundancy package.

We need these measures implemented immediately. Students have been laid off, many cannot survive off their maintenance loans alone, while others do not receive maintenance support. They cannot apply for universal credit and university Hardship/Support Funds are only limited pots of money that cannot support students through the entirety of this crisis. Landlords and letting agencies are still expecting students renters to pay their rent, and a number of students have received emails threatening court action if they cannot afford to pay their rent. One letting agent suggested that students not paying their rent would contribute to the collapse of the global economy. Many students simply cannot pay their rent, and they cannot be left behind during this pandemic. We deserve clarity and protection from this Executive. #NoStudentLeftBehind

Every person that has to go out to work at this time is putting theirs and their families health at risk for the sake of others needs. 10% pay rise backdated from March 9th is a very small compensation for that but at least shows SOME appreciation for staff during this time.

Nobody should be forced into poverty because of COVID-19. But, right now, employers will be penalised for topping up the poverty payment of €203 per week that temporarily laid of staff are entitled to during the pandemic. If they give their employers extra money, the company won't be entitiled to any refunds. That's why we're calling on Regina Doherty to allow employers to pay their staff their full wages - and reimburse them for the full cost.

The country is in the midst of the worst public health crisis in living memory. Student nurses and midwives are taking huge risks to provide the care we badly need at this time. They are stepping up to do extra work and placement practice while learning and training to be healthcare professionals. Their status as students needs to be protected and recognised - they should not be exploited as unpaid workers helping to hold up a struggling healthcare system.

Both the Abortion Rights Campaign and the Government want to keep people safe during this emergency. It is in all of our interest to minimise the strain on our healthcare system and to prevent people who are not sick from coming into contact with those who are. Remote consultation is already in use in Ireland by, for example, VideoDoc and Spectrum Health, and more recently, by individual GPs as they adapt to the current crisis. Providing abortion consultations remotely has proven safe, effective, and acceptable in other jurisdictions. We urge the Minister for Health to clarify that an in-person visit is not required in order to satisfy the Act and put appropriate protocols in place. We urge the Minister for Justice to assure doctors they will not be prosecuted if they offer medical abortion remotely at this time. Sign the petition and let the Government know you support those who need to access abortion services, healthcare workers and all those working in the health sector.