Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There are many positive things in today's plan, particularly the supports for small businesses, which are critical in creating employment. Will the Taoiseach address the issue of people who have lost their jobs as a result of the Covid pandemic? He has repeatedly promised that there will be no cliff edge when it comes to the withdrawal of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, yet today he has announced that there will be such a cliff edge. No matter what level of restrictions are in place across the country in September, payments will be reduced by €50. A further reduction of €50 will occur in November and a final reduction of €50 in February. In total, this amounts to a massive 40% cut to an already meagre payment. This is the very definition of a cliff edge. The Government has chosen an arbitrary date and determined to cut people's payments, no matter what the public health advice is at that time and no matter what jobs are or are not available. These payments are a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people whose jobs were casualties of the pandemic.

Experience tells us that, when businesses reopen, people will go back to work. They do not want to remain on the PUP longer than they have to. Last year, 400,000 people closed their PUP claims once the economy partially reopened. Since this payment was introduced more than a year ago, just 3,000 complaints have been made to the Department of Social Protection by employers alleging that staff were reluctant to return to the workforce. That is 3,000 out of more than 600,000 people, or 0.5%. The Department has also clarified that the vast majority of those 3,000 cases did not involve any misclaiming. Why then has the Taoiseach done what he has sworn he would not do? Why has he created a cliff edge for those in receipt of this payment, a cliff edge which will undoubtedly lead many more into poverty?

As the economy opens up over the summer months - a reopening that everyone in this House hopes will be very successful - the numbers in receipt of the PUP will significantly reduce naturally. There is no evidence that this payment is being abused or that people are preferring to claim the PUP rather than return to work. Despite this, the Taoiseach's Government has introduced a cliff edge in September, when there will be an initial 15% cut which, as I have said, will grow to 40%. A reduction of that magnitude will cause serious financial problems for those people who can least afford it. It has been a very tough year for everyone but especially for those who have been forced out of their jobs because of the pandemic. They have now been told by this Government that their meagre income will be slashed in September, even if the business in which they work has not reopened.

This announcement will cause serious stress and anxiety among a large cohort of people, many of whom are barely keeping their heads above water. Why has the Government broken its promise and introduced a cliff edge for the PUP?

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