Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 May 2020
1182. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason substitute teachers who are contracted for a minimum number of hours but work more during the school term are not being included for Covid-19 unemployment payments to bring their pay in line with the €350 rate. [6568/20]
View answer1245. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will extend the entitlement to the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment to persons who have an established historical work pattern of annual substitute teaching, exam aide, invigilator or exam superintendent and are currently precluded from receiving the payment in view of the fact they were not in employment before 13 March 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6224/20]
View answer1278. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if provision will be made for on-call workers and small business owners who are not PAYE workers but who are on call in essential services and may or may not have an income in a given week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6720/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1182, 1245 and 1278 together.
The COVID 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced in March 2020 as an emergency time-limited measure to meet the surge in unemployment which resulted from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. This emergency payment was introduced to support persons aged between 18 and up to 66 years old who have lost their employment due to the downturn in economic activity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and where they are not being paid by their employer. In order to qualify for the payment a person must have been in employment on or after the 6th March. The conditions around the payment to self-employed people are that they must have experienced a collapse of income and be available to take up other full-time work if it was available to them in order to qualify.
People who do not meet these conditions may be eligible for support under the social insurance based jobseekers benefit schemes or the means tested jobseekers allowance scheme depending on their individual circumstances. People who are already in receipt of a jobseekers payment, which may include substitute teachers and exam invigilators, who were not employed on 6 March will continue to remain on this payment for as long as they are entitled to it.
Where a person is experiencing financial hardship they can apply for financial support Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.
I trust that this clarifies the matter.
