Leo Varadkar says ‘third wave’ considerations influenced the € 5.4 billion contingency funding

TÁNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has said that the government was forced to reserve additional funds in the budget in part due to the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19.

Varadkar spoke this afternoon and also said that any decision on whether the country would need to move to a Level 4 lockdown would be made on Friday.

In his budget speech this afternoon, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that € 2.1 billion in contingency funds would be set aside for next year, with another € 3.4 earmarked for a recovery fund to stimulate demand and employment in the context of Covid-19 and Brexit. .

Speaking about that funding this afternoon, Varadkar said that this money is because we cannot predict what will happen to Covid-19 and that there may be a “third wave” of the virus.

“The reason we reserve 2 billion euros in contingency for health and social welfare and 3.4 billion euros and contingencies for Covid and Brexit is that we do not know what will happen to the pandemic,” he said.

We don’t know when the second wave will end, it will end. We do not know if there will be a third wave and when it will start, how long it could last. So we have to be in a position, if necessary, when we see this again in November, when we have the finished national economic plan, and in the new year, to make decisions.

Varadkar said the government will have to examine whether schemes such as the Pandemic Unemployment Pay, the wage subsidy scheme and the new Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) would be extended beyond the current March date.

The new CRSS provides support for companies that have had to close as a result of Covid-19 restrictions at Level 3 or higher.

When asked in the same briefing if there is a higher probability of moving to Level 4 this week than last week, Varadkar said:

“I think we will have a better idea on that on Friday. So obviously we will have Professor Nolan’s updated model on Thursday and we will be in a position to make any decisions for the country as a whole on Friday. “