mr. mcgrath: the virus is spreading, and the problem is really serious. priority is to protect public health. that is why, based on advice from the public health experts, we have now entered into a period a very significant restrictions for the next six weeks, with a view to getting the virus fully under control. in many respects, it is a preemptive strategy because while our numbers have been rising, we have been coping very , andin our health system the number of people in could go care and fortunately the number of people who have died has remained very low, so it is a preemptive move by us, but we are confident that these measures will work and that we can then move to reopening the irish economy fully in the period ahead. we had our annual budget just last week for 2021, and we introduced a record budget in terms of scale of 88 billion with expenditure next year very significant amount of direct support for businesses. we are going to help them insofar as we possibly can to keep them alive and ensure that they get through what is a very tough period

mr speaker. thank you, and i call: mcgrath for the committee for the executive office. atement this morning. judging by the hundreds of messages i received overnight people across the north went to bed not knowing if children are going to school, businesses would open or they needed to go to work and the confusion over the past 24 others has not helped that. we need to approach this pandemic together as equal partners and do the heavy lifting within our communities together, so let this be the moment, the clean break, where we provide people with a clarity, the answers and the support and the direction that they need. this statement is welcome, but what is missing is the specific financial detail desperately needed by businesses and workers. we know that one further scheme is about to end and another due to commence soon, but in light of this statement —— furlough scheme, what specific and tailored helpful therapy to prevent people making the impossible choice between their family's health and family finances? i thank the chairman for his intervention. there was never go

the debate in kentucky where amy mcgrath was talking to mcconnell saying why aren't are you addressing this problem and he laughed. he laughed. it is no laughing matter. mrg matter. they have never taken this seriously. over and over again we've put testing into -- from the first bill, testing, testing, testing. but it is clear that in order to get the job done, we have to prescribe a national strategic plan that is science-based and adequately funded. if the president -- the president knows when a president speaks his words mean a ton. and people trust. and we would hope that he would embrace a solution rather than mocking it or in the case of the majority leader, laughing at it. so again we're -- >> speaker pelosi -- >> we'll talk again probably on sunday. well we can't speak before we see where we've gone on the language. but i'll tell you one more thing and i'd like to make this point. >> sure. >> one of the other points of disagreement is how we treat low income working families. we have in our bill the earned income tax credit child tax credit, child and dependent tax credit which means substantial assistance to america's work -- low income working