Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Last week the Taoiseach told the Dáil that nobody would be worse off than they were before the pandemic as a result of his proposed cuts to the €350 Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment. That is not true. The Taoiseach has played with words in order to hide the reality of the cuts he is planning but the press statement issued by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection last Friday and updated today is clear. It says "For those whose prior employment earnings were up to €199.99 per week... the PUP rate will be €203 per week". That means huge cuts in income for many lone parents and others who had part-time jobs bringing in less than €200 per week but also had income from social welfare.

Those hard-pressed families will end up substantially worse off, with some losing almost half their income. That will also add to the horrific increases in food poverty reported today.

I will give some examples. Emma was working two days a week for eight hours on €12 an hour and she has one child. She was previously earning €192 a week from her job and got €225.50 a week in jobseeker's transitional payment. Her total weekly income was €417.50. When she lost her job because of the pandemic, that was reduced to €350 a week on the PUP. From the end of June, however, her PUP will be cut to €203. She will have to move back to the jobseeker's transitional payment and her income will, therefore, be reduced to €239 a week. That is a drop from €401 a week to €239 a week. It is a cruel cut that will mean she will be unable to afford to pay her rent, through no fault of her own. Let us also take John, who was previously working two days a week on minimum wage and earning €161.60 a week. He was also getting €130 in jobseeker's allowance for the three days he was not working. His total income was just over €290, but now the Government is cutting him to €203 a week - a drop of approximately one third in his income.

I could give many more examples, including students who work part time in January and February, but full time at this time of the year and who rely on that income to pay their way through college, and seasonal workers who work part time in the off season, through no choice of their own, and rely on the income they make working full time during the summer. Will the Taoiseach correct the record and accept that many people will be worse off if the cut to the PUP is proceeded with and will he agree, therefore, to withdraw the cut?

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