The chief executive of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association, Vincent Jennings has claimed that it is difficult to get part-time staff because it is more lucrative for them to get the emergency €350 Covid payment than to remain in employment.

There are hundreds of employers who cannot get part-time staff so full-time workers are being asked to work longer hours, he told Newstalk Breakfast.

Nobody wants to see people who have lost their jobs not getting financial assistance, he added.

Mr Jennings pointed out that the form applicants had to fill in to receive the Covid-19 payment did not seek clarification from an employer that there was no longer any work.

“The tax number for the employer was not asked for, that would have enabled the Department to see if they were a genuine employer.”

Part-time staff who worked two to three days a week would normally take home €190 to €200, now they can receive €350 per week under the Covid-19 payment which does not distinguish between those who worked two to three days and those who worked five days, he said.

“We’ve had reports from members that part-time staff are not turning up for work or going absent without leave.”

Mr Jennings said he understood the system was devised “incredibly quickly” which did not allow time to “weed out” the potential for abuse.