Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to begin by referencing football. I am sure that, like me, other Members of the House are enjoying the European Championships. I would like to put in a word for our local League of Ireland football, which is well under way at this stage and going well, particularly so for Limerick. The success story of Treaty United FC is a great story of a rebirth of football. It is a new club in its first season and now in the dizzy heights of second in the first division. The point I am making is that, when permitted, we should get out and support our local clubs.It is great to support European football. It is fantastic and I want to wish all of our neighbours well in the competition this week but we need to remember that football starts at home. The story in Limerick at the moment is a really positive one.

I also wish to raise the ESRI report on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. This really good report, which was published this morning, puts to bed the idea that somehow the PUP is damaging to businesses in terms of seeking workers. It shows conclusively that 95% of recipients are better off in work. It is good to be able to put that particular myth to bed which was highlighted again last week at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I was struck by a tweet from Mr. Pat Phelan, who runs SISU aesthetic clinic:

Sick to my back teeth of hearing it's hard to get staff

It's absolutely not

It's hard to get cheap staff

Hired 10 people in the last 10 weeks not a problem.

Free private Healthcare, free contributory pension

Zero issues

Pay your teams

This is a really clear and positive message from someone who is clearly a very good employer.

The second issue raised in the ESRI report is the worrying drop in income as the PUP is phased out, particularly for younger people. The unemployment rate for young people in Ireland at the moment is 61%. To be clear, that excludes people at college but it is still a shocking rate. If the PUP is dropped, young people will be back down to €112 per week which is not acceptable. While we obviously need to get them work, we must also address the issue of enabling them to at least get by until such time as they get into work or an apprenticeship.