Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
853. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the arrangements in place to confirm persons in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment and temporary wage subsidy scheme continue to reside in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20216/20]
View answerMy Department has a number of measures in place to ensure that recipients of payments continue to reside in the State. These include compliance checks conducted by social welfare inspectors at ports and airports, as well as communications with customers, either written, electronic or face-to-face, to confirm that the customer remains resident in the State and continues to meet all other eligibility criteria for their payment.
As I announced in the Dáil yesterday, I have directed my Department to review all PUP cases to date where people went on holidays and had their payment stopped. Last evening, my officials completed the review of the 2,500 PUP cases where the payment was stopped for travelling abroad. This review has identified some 85 cases that have the potential to be entitled to PUP for a holiday period. My Department will be contacting these individuals over the coming days to verify their cases.
As the operation of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme is not under my remit, I would direct the Deputy to my colleague, the Minister for Finance, in the relation to that scheme.
I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
