Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Today is the last day you can sign on for PUP. Despite the Government's promises that there would be no cliff for people on income supports such as the PUP, that cliff is now being created. For example, if you are a musician or a performer, and you benefit from the live performance support scheme, LPSS, over the next two months, you cannot go back on PUP, even though you may only get one bit of work. That is a cliff for all of those people.

There is also a cliff for anybody who goes down to the €203 payment rate, regardless of the fact that they want to return to their industry, whether it is travel, tourism, taxi driving, music or live performance. They are now going to be told that they have to come off the PUP and apply for jobseeker's allowance, when in fact they want to return to their own industries. That is a grossly unfair punishment and represents a cliff for people who have been affected by pandemic measures.

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