Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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853. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the arrangements in place to confirm persons in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment and temporary wage subsidy scheme continue to reside in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20216/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a number of measures in place to ensure that recipients of payments continue to reside in the State. These include compliance checks conducted by social welfare inspectors at ports and airports, as well as communications with customers, either written, electronic or face-to-face, to confirm that the customer remains resident in the State and continues to meet all other eligibility criteria for their payment.

As I announced in the Dáil yesterday, I have directed my Department to review all PUP cases to date where people went on holidays and had their payment stopped.  Last evening, my officials completed the review of the 2,500 PUP cases where the payment was stopped for travelling abroad.  This review has identified some 85 cases that have the potential to be entitled to PUP for a holiday period.  My Department will be contacting these individuals over the coming days to verify their cases. 

As the operation of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is not under my remit, I would direct the Deputy to my colleague, the Minister for Finance, in the relation to that scheme.

I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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854. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on whether the decision to exclude workers that live in the Northern Ireland and work here where they pay their taxes was not an EU regulation as previously stated by her predecessor; her further views on whether the pandemic unemployment payment can be extended to such workers; if the payment will be extended; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20223/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The COVID 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment is an income support payment for employees and self-employed resident in the State and who are unemployed due to a downturn in economic activity related to COVID 19.  Where a person is resident in Northern Ireland and working in Ireland and becomes fully unemployed due to the effects of the pandemic they are not entitled to the COVID19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment. They need to apply for income supports that may be available to them in Northern Ireland.  

This is consistent with the rules for Jobseekers Benefit regarding the competent State whereby the Member State of residence is competent for the payment of Unemployment Benefits in the case of wholly unemployed frontier workers.  Under the current EU rules, as set out in Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems, the Member State of residence is competent for the payment of Unemployment Benefits in the case of wholly unemployed frontier workers.  

This issue was also raised with me during the Seanad debate on the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020 on foot of which I have asked my department to consider the points raised in that debate. 

I trust that this clarifies the position for you.