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Fianna F\u00e1il TD Willie O\u2019Dea has criticized the Government for \u201csingling out\u201d a section of people by stopping their pandemic unemployment payment, following checks carried out at airports.<\/p>\nFianna F\u00e1il TD Willie O\u2019Dea has criticized the Government for \u201csingling out\u201d a section of people by stopping their pandemic unemployment payment, following checks carried out at airports.<\/p>\n
On Sunday the Department of Social Protection confirmed that 104 cases of pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) have been stopped, as a result of checks carried out at airports.<\/p>\n
The Department of Social Protection says if you go on holiday abroad you have to quarantine for two weeks when you return, which would affect your ability to look for work.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Dea said: \u201cIt was not right and proper that one category of people who don\u2019t take the Government\u2019s advice should be singled out for punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody should disobey the Government advice, but why should one category be penalized for it when others are getting away scot-free,\u201d he told RT\u00c9 radio.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Dea said he will call on the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys and the Government to \u201cwithdraw this campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n
RISE TD Paul Murphy said the rule was unfairly targeting those who have lost their jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of having people in the airport checking people’s PPS numbers, checking if people have a job when they’re on the way out, instead those resources should be spent on testing people when they are coming in to see if [arriving passengers] have the coronavirus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAll of this just smacks of quite a blatant discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) questioned the legality of checks being carried out at airports to identify travelers in receipt of PUP.<\/p>\n
ICCL executive director, Liam Herrick, said the checks on passengers, to establish if they were in receipt of the PUP weekly payment of up to 350 euro, may be discriminatory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just advice for one section of the population, but it actually has the force of law for another section \u2013 those that are dependent on social welfare payments,\u201d Mr Herrick told RT\u00c9 radio.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt has changed the definition of what is an allowable holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking in Dublin on Monday, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said no-one should be travelling abroad on holidays, whether they receive the payment or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say, as a former health minister, that my most important advice to people, whether you\u2019re on the pandemic unemployment payment or not \u2013 you should not be going abroad right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that is a message that we can\u2019t say enough, we have made really good progress together in relation to Covid-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than getting down the rabbit hole of whether you are on the PUP or not \u2013 I don\u2019t want to see anybody going to an airport and going on a foreign holiday this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is far too important that we keep on top of this virus and get our kids back to school and get them back open at the end of August.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Dublin Airport said on Monday that it does not collect data about any passengers.<\/p>\n
It tweeted: \u201cFor the avoidance of doubt, we can confirm that we are not sharing passenger data with any third party agencies. In fact, we have no access to such passenger data. We cannot comment on the actions of any third party agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n