Cabinet to hear update on wages and tips bill

Government TDs are also set to receive an update on the development of new elective hospitals in Cork, Galway, and Dublin

The 2021 Payment of Wages and Tips Bill was developed in response to recent controversies about restaurants not passing tips onto their employees.

The Cabinet will be asked today to approve a new bill aimed at helping those made redundant.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will seek Cabinet approval for the Redundancy Payments Amendment Bill, sources have said.

Last month, Mr Varadkar estimated that up to 56,000 lay-offs could be “crystallised” in a worst-case scenario following its decision to restore workers’ rights to claim redundancy benefits after being laid-off.

Mr Varadkar said restoring these rights would cost between €30m and €130m.

The new bill is an update to the 1967 act. Mr Varadkar will also seek approval to progress the 2021 Payment of Wages and Tips Bill in response to recent controversies about restaurants not passing tips onto their employees

The Cabinet is expecting to get a full update on the latest Covid-19 situation following the sub-committee meeting last night.

While some ministers, speaking privately, expressed concern at the rise in cases and hospitalisations, they made clear that there is little or no appetite to contemplate a return to lockdown as happened last year.

“This is living with Covid. How could we envisage closing schools or anything when we have just opened nightclubs? The numbers are concerning but I don’t see us going backwards,” one minister said.

Arts Minister Catherine Martin is expected to also update Cabinet as to the ongoing negotiations with representatives of the hospitality sector about the development of new rules to allow venues open.

She will tell her colleagues that the main issue to be resolved is the requirement for all those venues to use electronic ticketing systems as a condition of entry to their premises.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is to update Cabinet as to the plan to establish elective hospitals in Cork, Galway, and Dublin under the Sláintecare plan.

It is understood that Mr Donnelly is seeking approval to develop the business case for each of the new hospitals. 

The purpose of these hospitals is to make progress on easing waiting lists, providing more day cases and relieving pressure on the country’s acute hospitals.

Cork man Aidan Murphy will also be formally ratified as Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe’s special advisor by Cabinet. 

Mr Murphy, a Douglas native, graduated from University College Cork with a first-class honours degree before joining the civil service in 2016. 

Mr Murphy has been a press officer in the Department of Finance since July 2017.

Mr Donohoe will also present the latest quarterly Nama results as well as Nama’s annual statement for 2022.

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath will also present the September spending reports for all departments with tensions lingering over the health budget.