Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew has called on the health minister to urgently get the £500 COVID recognition payment into the pockets of domiciliary care workers and all independent staff. 

The party’s health spokesperson said:

“The Health Minister must urgently get the £500 recognition payment into the pockets of domiciliary and other care workers and all independent staff.

“Last night, we met with care workers, and we listened first-hand to the challenges they face on a daily basis including their work on the frontline during the pandemic. 

“This payment was announced in January. It’s now October and it’s unacceptable that almost a year later, workers are still waiting for this payment. 

“Care workers are some of the lowest paid and most undervalued workers in the health and social care service and while the £500 payment isn’t a solution to the challenges faced by these workers it is an important recognition of their hard-working efforts to support vulnerable people during the pandemic. 

“I will raise this issue at the Health Committee on Thursday in an effort to find a solution which gets this money out the door and to urge the Health Minister to act.”