Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have been trying to be as fair as possible. The pandemic unemployment payment has been extended until at least next April. It also remains open for applications, which is important. Covid-19 will be with us for some time. The budget is three weeks away. We need to examine the next steps and the future of the PUP as part of the budgetary process. We may need to keep the PUP open for much longer than we expected. That makes it all the more important that the rates of payment are sustainable. This was originally supposed to be a temporary 12-week payment. It will now run for at least a year and we may need to extend it even further. The Deputy should bear in mind that we have gone from a budget surplus in February to a deficit of more than €20 billion. That is unprecedented but it was absolutely necessary to protect people through this pandemic. We may be borrowing at low interest rates but there is no such thing as free money. We still have to pay it back.

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