Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 July 2020
59. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of appeals received to puprerate@welfare.ie since the reduction of pandemic unemployment payment; the average response time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19002/20]
View answer64. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the processing times for pandemic unemployment payment re-rate appeals and reviews; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19040/20]
View answer83. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons that have appealed the decision to reduce their €350 Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment; the number that were successful; and the number awaiting a decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19020/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 59, 64 and 83 together.
The COVID 19 pandemic unemployment payment was introduced as an emergency measure to meet the surge in unemployment which resulted from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. To be eligible for the pandemic unemployment payment a person must have been in employment immediately prior to the 13th March and lost their income from employment due to the onset of the pandemic. Self-employed people must have suffered a collapse in their trading income to the extent that they are available to take up other full-time work.
Changes were announced to the structure of the pandemic unemployment payment which means that it continues to be a strong support but is also fair and targeted. Payment is now linked to prior earnings. Where an employee's gross weekly earnings were €200 or higher there is no change to their rate of payment. If their gross weekly earnings were under €200 the rate of the pandemic unemployment payment was adjusted to €203. Where a person is self-employed their gross average weekly income for 2018, the last tax year for which verifiable data on self-employed income is available, is used to calculate the rate of the pandemic unemployment payment.
Where an individual’s rate is reduced to the flat rate €203 per week and their family circumstances are that they have adult or child dependents, it may be more financially beneficial to apply for a jobseekers payment.
The changes to the structure of the pandemic unemployment payment were first implemented in payments due on 7 July 2020. Just over 110,000 people received payment at the new rate of €203, while 302,000 people continued to receive payment at a rate of €350.
Any person who feels that the assessment of their earnings, based on returns already submitted to Revenue, is inaccurate can ask for a review of their case. To date approximately 10,000 requests for a review have been received, with the majority of these received on the 7th and 8th July. The majority of requests have come from self-employed individuals. To date, my officials have cleared 4,640 cases, of which 920 have been successful. The successful cases primarily related to the absence of earnings details on a self-employed person’s contribution history due to outstanding tax and PRSI liabilities.
I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.
