Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week, the Government effectively shut down the late-night economy. Four weeks from Christmas, thousands of workers and businesses are now prevented from earning the money that pays their bills, yet at its meeting yesterday the Cabinet economic sub-committee did not even consider restoring the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP.

How does the Taoiseach expect these workers to make ends meet? Businesses also face great uncertainty as cuts to the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, are scheduled to kick in from the start of December. I ask the Taoiseach to put a stop to those cuts. I remind him that removing or reducing any supports leaves workers and businesses in a most difficult and, in some case, impossible position. The Taoiseach needs to reinstate the PUP for workers who need it and the full EWSS must be kept in place until the end of this year, at the very least.

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