DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland will likely extend COVID-19 emergency wage and jobless payment schemes beyond June, keeping them in place at the very least for sectors unable to open by then, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday.
Varadkar laid out a roadmap for a gradual re-opening of the economy on Friday that could allow construction firms to return to work from May 18 but order restaurants to wait until June 29 to reopen and pubs until Aug. 10.
“It wouldn’t be right to unwind it before those sectors can actually reopen. My anticipation is it will have to be extended but as sectors reopen, then perhaps we can unwind it then,” Varadkar told national broadcaster RTE in an interview.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
