Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I want to return to the question I asked on the Order of Business. I got a lot of bluster back from the Taoiseach but I did not get an answer. It seems to me that a point of very basic inequality has been created, if I am reading the terms of the new PUP scheme correctly. I would be delighted if the Taoiseach could confirm to me that I am reading them incorrectly and that this inequality is not being created.

It seems pretty clear that if, for example, a worker who was earning €450 a week in the entertainment sector lost their job last week as a result of the impact of the Covid restrictions, the impact on the night-time economy and so on, and they then went on the dole, they are not entitled to move onto the pandemic unemployment payment, whereas the equivalent worker who loses their job next week will be entitled, correctly, to go onto the pandemic unemployment payment and will be able to get €350 per week. There will be a difference of income between two workers in identical situations in that they are both out of work as a consequence of pandemic restrictions but have a difference of income between them of €147 per week. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that that is the case and to take action to reverse it to ensure that anybody who loses their job as a result Covid restrictions is able to access the PUP at that €350 rate.

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