Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the sponsors of this motion for bringing it forward. This is a serious issue for people across the whole country. Everywhere we went we came across families, even before there was a pandemic, who were living on the verge of poverty. They are the working poor and they got up every day early in the morning, went to work and worked hard. Yet, the level of remuneration they received from that work kept them just above the breadline and that was the case for many people. When this pandemic came and they went on the pandemic unemployment payment of €350 per week, they were in a worse situation. Many of them have told me they have come to a situation where they have to reassess what they can do, what they can spend their money on and what they can plan for. Holidays and so on are certainly out of the question. Now we find the Government has cut the PUP back down to €300 per week for many of them. While the Government may try to claim that the money simply is not there for this payment to continue, the reality is we cannot afford not to protect and look after people in these circumstances. This Government has to stand by the ordinary people of this country who are doing their best in the context of this pandemic.

Poverty is a huge issue across all sectors of our society, rural and urban, and many people are on the verge of it. I recently spoke to someone who talked to me about young women going into his or her shop who were getting school uniforms and having to pay for them over a number of weeks because they would not have the money to pay for them straight away. This shop owner told me that their mothers used to be in that shop 20 years ago doing the same thing and he asked if their children will be back in doing that again in 20 years time. That tells us there is a cycle of poverty that needs to be addressed and this time of a pandemic is one when the Government should be reassessing how everything is looked at and how we look after our people. That section of people, who work hard and who do their best, are the ones who are put to the pins of their collars.

I know from speaking to accountants who are dealing with businesses that are trying to access the wage subsidy scheme that it is much more difficult to access than the original scheme. They are finding it hard to access it and a whole lot of rules and regulations have been put in place which they do not need. The Minister and the Government need to step up to the mark and protect people in these circumstances. We have a choice here between looking after people and not looking after people. It is as simple as that. People can talk about the cost of it and at the end of the day, the cost of it will be people's mental health, which was referred to by Deputy Kerrane earlier on. Many people across our society are really worried and stressed about this.

I talked with that same shopkeeper I mentioned early about depression as well and we discussed whether or not people are depressed because they are poor or if they are poor because they are depressed. The truth is that both of those factors are at play. People in our society find that they are in really difficult circumstances because when they are under pressure and they feel they cannot afford the basic things in life, they cannot have a sense of future and look forward to things or try to develop a future for their children and themselves. It is important that the Government supports this motion and restores the PUP payment.

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