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Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald warned the cut in the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) will lead to economic hardship, calling for the Government to reverse the reduction.<\/p>\nSinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald warned the cut in the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) will lead to economic hardship, calling for the Government to reverse the reduction.<\/p>\n
The \u20ac350-a-week payments have dropped to between \u20ac200 and \u20ac300, which has affected the 150,000 people still in receipt of the benefit.<\/p>\n
According to The Sunday Times, senior ministers are also to consider whether students returning to school and college should still be eligible for the PUP payment, with an estimated 30,000 students qualifying for the payment back in March.<\/p>\n
Ms McDonald said that Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe will have to reverse the decision to decrease the payment amount, saying it was wrong, particularly when Dublin and Donegal are facing tighter restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he will have to change his mind because they\u2019ve made a mistake, because what they\u2019re doing is unfair, because what they\u2019re doing will undoubtedly cause not just hardship, but what MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service) has described as a forthcoming tsunami of domestic debt,\u201d she told RT\u00c9\u2019s The Week In Politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not a smart thing to do socially or economically so Paschal will have to change his position because it\u2019s the wrong position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. McDonald rejected Mr. Donohoe\u2019s claim that the Government cut the Covid-19 unemployment payments so the PUP could last longer for people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the very reason to extend and to maintain the payments is the fact that we are still in the grips of a crisis,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we thought initially six months ago that this was a transient crisis, that we could tough it out for six months and then we could go all come back up and breathe air that\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin last week defended the decision saying that, while the rates have been reduced, the scheme had been extended until next April.<\/p>\n