I thank Members for their kind words of congratulation on the birth of Arthur, my new and first grandchild. I also thank Members for their kind comments about the staff in the Department of Social Protection. On behalf of the staff, I wish to state it is important that the extraordinary work they have done since last March be acknowledged. They have managed to continue all the other payments along with the additional workload of the pandemic unemployment payment. They certainly have been essential front-line worker…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House today. We are all aware of the sudden and sustained impact that Covid-19 has had on our everyday lives. The priority for the Government throughout this crisis has been twofold: first to protect public health and limit the spread of the virus and second to put in place income supports that mitigate the financial impact on households. Following the onset of the crisis, my Department mobilised quickly not only to introduce new payments but to build new IT systems and to r…

I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising these issues. I will try to respond to as many as I can within the time available to me. In regard to the future of the PUP, the Deputy will be aware that earlier this month I secured Government approval for the retention of the current rates of payment until 31 March next. With the extension of the current restrictions until 5 March, it is clear to everybody that we now need to look beyond the end of March in this regard. I will consult with my Government colleagues over the comi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. All legislation enjoys the assumption of constitutionality. The Minister for Finance determines taxation policy. The legislation has gone through both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Finance are of the view that it is constitutional. The Minister for Finance and the Revenue Commissioners are clear on this issue. The position is that the PUP is taxable. It is important to remember that payments from the Department of Social Protecti…

The Deputy did not have the text of the statement and could not have read it.

I thank the Deputy for raising those issues. To be clear, the PUP is classified in the same way as the jobseeker's payment but it has an extra benefit. It is important to say that. Full social insurance credits are being made to everybody who is on the PUP. We will all accept that this is a very valuable contribution. It is important that those credits continue because they are very important when people are looking for other benefits at a later stage, whether maternity benefits, pension or many of the other benefi…

Since the introduction of the PUP in March approximately 850,000 individuals have applied for the payment. In some cases, they have done so on several occasions as they have moved in and out of employment or where the employer availed of the Revenue temporary wage subsidy scheme. Consequently, there were more than 1.5 million applications to be examined to determine if arrears were due. This is mainly due to the initial time lag in the commencement of payments. These arrears have now been paid. They were paid mainl…

The Deputy has outlined all the supports we have been giving to lone parents. Significant support has been provided during the pandemic to customers on the one-parent family payment who lost their employment. They have been allowed to keep their primary payment and to claim the PUP concurrently. It is important to say that. That is of help to lone parents. Their representatives have highlighted the importance of the school meals, which have continued during the pandemic, including during the summer and the school h…

First, I assure the Deputy that all the applications received by my Department are assessed independently. Second, if people do not send in applications, they cannot be funded. It depends on the number. Some counties are much better at submitting applications than others. If we do not get an application for a project, we cannot fund it. Third, if the application is not up to standard and does not meet the criteria set out under the scheme, it is not deemed eligible on many occasions. I do not even see those applica…

I assure the Deputy that fairness is something we uphold in the Government, and everybody is treated with respect and fairness. I can assure the Deputy that all the applications we received were fairly and independently assessed and were scored on their merits. As I said, some counties do not get as much as others because they do not put in applications. I cannot produce money and give it to them if they do not send in good-quality applications. I therefore ask those unsuccessful applicants to engage with my Depart…

That is outrageous.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The alliance welcomed the confirmation that the PUP is available to parents who cannot work due to childcare issues and school closures. It believes, however, that the Government needs to go further and ensure that one-parent families are not pulled deeper into poverty. It is calling on the Government to implement ten urgent actions, seven of which are relevant to this Department. It is calling for special measures to increase payments to families with children and, in par…

The Deputy raised several issues. On the issue of the public-facing campaign to which he referred, we have been providing flexibility with regard to rent supplement. The Deputy and I can probably get the message out to people who contact us that if they are in difficulty, the Department is here to help. That is the one big message we need to send out. If people are having difficulties, whether that is with the cost of fuel or their rent supplement, they should go to their local social welfare office. We are here to…

The issue of childcare is under the remit of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman. I know these are issues he is considering and trying to provide as much assistance as we possibly can as a Government.

Making a double payment of fuel allowance means everybody gets it whether they need it or not. The best way we can deal with that issue is through a targeted approach. If a person is in trouble with regard to the cost of fuel - the allowance was increased by €3.50 only at the beginning of the year - he or she should go to the local social welfare office and look for the supplementary payment because it is available specifically to help people who run into difficulties.

I understand the Deputy's concerns regarding the photographer to whom he referred, for example. It is worth noting that self-employed people on the PUP can earn €960 over eight weeks and still retain their PUP payment. That may be some help to them. For those who are coming off the PUP, we have an enterprise support grant of €1,000. I know there probably is not much demand for that now, given the current restrictions, but it will continue to be available. I know that the Tánaiste is looking at supports for people w…

I thank the Deputy for raising those issues. I know that he has a great knowledge of the social protection scheme and I take on board the issue he has raised about appeals and their overturning. I commit to looking at that issue and will be happy to speak to him about it. If he has a specific case in mind, I am happy to discuss it with him. The Department of Social Protection is here to help people. Our number one objective is to help people when they need it and provide security for when someone is off sick or ret…

I can answer the Deputy's question. We have extended the PUP until the end of March. I will say again that the Government will not be found wanting. I will be consulting my Government colleagues and we will take into account the trajectory of the virus, the roll-out of the vaccine and where we are at in terms of the reopening of the economy.

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is working on that legislation. I know it is a priority for him and I am sure he will get the co-operation of the House to pass that legislation whenever he brings it into the House. My Department is working on the relevant IT system. We are working hard to have it ready by the beginning of April. As soon as the legislation is passed, if we do not have the systems ready, we will backdate payments. We will make sure that everybody is in payment from the beginning of April. I hope the D…

As the Deputy knows, we brought in Covid illness benefit for the purpose of allowing people to take time off work immediately once they got certification from their doctor. Whether they were off sick or had to isolate, a doctor could still electronically certify that the person in question should not be in work and the payment kicked in straight away, without waiting days. That is a payment of €350. We need to consider that the average period for which people are sick and receive that payment is three weeks, approx…