Mr. Christopher Bowes:

This relates to the first reference to a requirement that claimants of the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, be genuinely seeking work. An amendment was made to the Covid-19 PUP website and specifically the section on how to qualify, which details eligibility criteria for the payment. On foot of the comments referenced by the Deputy, the web page was subsequently amended to include, as an eligibility criterion for the payment, that a claimant should be genuinely seeking work. In our submission we go through in detail all the information that had been published relating to the payment. There had been no reference to such a requirement prior to that point.