Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise the Government's announcement that the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, will be reduced by €50 from September. The principle behind the creation of the PUP was sound. As long as the Government imposed barriers in the form of public health restrictions preventing people from working, then there would be supports for people to get by. However, many people will be anxious this morning having woken up to the news their supports will be cut, despite the restrictions persisting. There were many sound bites from the Government in the last year regarding all of us being in this together and that there would be no cliff edge to the PUP. However, those words will bring little comfort to the thousands of workers in the aviation, event management, hospitality and other sectors still facing restrictions. Those sectors need a roadmap from the Government and continued supports which will run in parallel with it.

The PUP has been a source of security to hundreds of thousands of people in turbulent times. In recent months, however, recipients have had to live with serious uncertainty as they listened to kite flying by the Tánaiste and others in Government regarding threatening to remove their supports. Now, as Deputy Pearse Doherty said this morning, "The Government has pulled the rug from under these people". The Government's move to reduce the PUP will result in serious negative consequences for families relying on it. Let us not forget the PUP payments are circulating in the economy. People receiving PUP have already expended their savings and they are spending the money they receive from the PUP in the economy. There will be a natural tapering of the PUP payment as the country continues to reopen and people return to employment. Last year, for example, when restrictions were lifted, 400,000 people came off the payment, while this year 125,000 people have so far come off the payment. The numbers coming off the PUP will continue to rise, but in the meantime the Government is duty-bound to support workers who have been forced out of work through no fault of their own. We of course support the public health measures, but we must continue to target supports for workers and businesses that remain impacted by restrictions.