I thank the Deputy for his question. There are lots of things that businesses can do now, while they remain closed, to prepare to go back to work. Any businesses on the wage subsidy scheme can bring in their staff and start to talk to them and look at how they can plan to go back to work. The NSAI guidelines on retail protection and improvement are available online. I recommend that businesses should look at that document. Another document gives guidelines for manufacturing and how firms can best comply with the ne…

I thank the Minister of State. I will take the last question first. All of the preparation that we did for Brexit has been extremely useful in how we are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many structures were in place and we had many different supports. We have been able to expand and improve on them. We certainly have not forgotten about Brexit. Although, I will be honest: all our focus currently is on supporting businesses and helping them to deal with the impact of this pandemic. It is clear what we have to d…

I thank the Deputy for raising those issues. I welcome the publication of the NESC report on vulnerable employment. My Department is already engaged in a number of activities outlined in the report as key drivers of the response to the just transition. The Department has been engaged in the process and we are committed to it. The regional enterprise plans are all focused on climate change. There are specific initiatives for the midlands where Bord na Móna announced job losses. A just transition facilitator was appo…

I thank Deputy Catherine Murphy for the questions and will start with the last question first. Regarding commercial rents and landlords, I outlined where many of them are giving that latitude and are working with their tenants, and rightly so. There always will be, however, a cohort that does not do that. I spoke to the Minister for Justice and Equality about this issue and I requested the Attorney General to look at this issue and at how models in other countries have worked. The difficulty is there could be const…

I will do that. The HSA is available today and anybody with concerns about a workplace should contact it. The NSAI guidelines the Deputy referred to are also available. The HSA and the HSE are working together-----

The HSA is working with the HSE on this. It is detailed and complex work. I hope to have that work completed and published shortly. It will set out clearly what is expected of both employers and employees. We have other protocols in place now and these guidelines set out a range of measures. I hope to have the next set of guidelines shortly for publication. We are working with unions and employers to ensure we get it right. I absolutely understand, as I know the Deputy does, that people must be sure they are safe i…

As I stated, the HSA and the HSE are working together with different employers and unions to bring about a document that everybody can work with. That should be ready shortly.

With respect to companies not complying with regulations, environmental health officers already have the power to close companies not complying with rules. That power exists.

Yes, the HSE environmental health officers currently have the power, but I have said clearly that we will have the guidelines as a matter of urgency. A good deal of work has gone into them.

Okay. As I said to the Deputy, I will have them as a matter of urgency. It is a comprehensive document which takes on board many issues that employers and employees are rightly concerned about. We will have that document as a matter of urgency.

The Deputy's second question was about the Debenhams workers. I am sorry to hear about what happened to the Debenhams workers. It is obviously a very difficult time for them. As far as we are concerned, Debenhams should be engaging with its workers and with the unions. The Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, is available for the workers to give assistance.

That is obviously being looked at in terms of the examinership. The Company Law Review Group is looking at all those issues and will bring recommendations to us.

The HSA.

I thank the Deputy. The NSAI protocols dealing with what should happen in the workplace are in place. The HSA is available to go to any company or to any employee who is concerned. It will phone up, go on site, see the issue and talk. The best solution here is between employers and employees working together to get the right solution. That is the first thing. Second, if there is a case where the rules are being blatantly ignored and the guidelines are not being adhered to, the environmental health officers in the H…

I do not have that figure to hand but I will provide the Deputy with that information.

Several different issues were raised in the letter my Department received from the Deputy. To be clear, the HSE and the environmental health officers it employs currently have the power to close a site if that is necessary. I will revert to the Deputy on the issue of workers' living accommodation. I am not sure who is responsible for inspecting it.

The HSA has the authority to inspect any workplace. There have been many cases involving such inspections. When the pandemic started, a food company was very concerned about whether it could continue to operate. The HSA and the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI, went to its premises and worked with the employers and employees. It has not had a day's bother since the pandemic started. It makes bread every day without any problems. Employers and employees should be aware that there are solutions. The HSA …

The NSAI has guidelines on how companies should operate. They are available and companies should be adhering to them. There is no doubt about that. If there are issues and concerns, they should contact the Health and Safety Authority, HSA. We are developing a much more detailed set of guidelines to cover many more issues that are going to arise, and we will publish them as soon as we can. The NSAI guidelines are there currently for the manufacturing and processing plants that the Deputy refers to. I urge companies …

As the Deputy will be aware, the wage subsidy scheme is very successful and many more companies are taking it up. It is still available to companies that did not take it up. There are no barriers to entry into it. They can have a mix. Some companies found themselves in a position of being able to hold on to some staff and maybe lay others off. It is permitted within the scheme to have a mix of the wage subsidy scheme and to let some staff go, unfortunately, to go on unemployment benefit. Rates have been deferred, a…

In terms of liquidity, we have the €450 million working capital facility, which provides loans from €25,000 up to €3 million at a reduced rate of 4%. Some Deputies believe that rate should be even lower but the normal price for overdraft facilities in the market is 8%, so it is a considerably reduced price. As part of that, businesses can avail of loans of up to €500,000 that are unsecured, which is important. Businesses that do not have security can still apply for the Covid-19 working capital facility. The loans …