Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Kelly said, they were there before that as well. They have been there for a long time. The fact that we are extending this payment until the end of next April shows our commitment to helping and supporting people. Alongside that, we have also put together a very substantial job activation programme under the July stimulus to help people secure alternative employment. All we are getting from Deputy McDonald is play-acting. She is deliberately undermining what has been a genuine effort to reach out to people who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. The people on the PUP are not clamouring to travel overseas. That is a wrong impression to give. Nobody is attempting to single anyone out. We all know the overseas travel numbers are at a record low level, and people on the payment are doing their best to make it through this crisis in one piece. We know that 90% of people who were checked at airports lost the PUP because they were permanently resident outside the country. Surely the Deputy is not suggesting that all of those people should get their payment back, or it is wrong somehow that people who are living permanently abroad should get the PUP. We are saying they should not. What is the Deputy's position on that?

The Deputy has some nerve to mention confusion about travel. Just like Sinn Féin's policy in the North, this Government agrees and advises that there should be no unnecessary travel overseas and wants people travelling from various overseas countries to restrict their movements upon their return. Also like Sinn Féin's policy in the North, the Government has published a list of countries for which people returning from essential travel will not need to restrict their movements. The difference between this Government and Sinn Féin's policy is that whereas we have restricted that list to 11 countries, Sinn Féin welcomes unrestricted overseas travel from 58 countries. That is what Sinn Féin signed off on, and yet the Deputy has the nerve to come in here and talk about the Government's confusion on travel. That is the Sinn Féin position, which the Deputy signed off on without equivocation.

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