I propose to take Questions Nos. 766, 790, 791, 792, 793, 852, 867 and 875 together.
I have announced today that any self-employed person in receipt of the lower rate of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) who has submitted their 2019 returns to the Revenue Commissioners and feels that it may make a difference to their rate, can request a review of their PUP payment from my Department.
The PUP has two rates of payment based on an individual’s previous earnings from employment. The higher rate of €350 per week is paid to people whose earnings from employment were €200 or more per week while the lower rate of €203 per week is for who earned less than €200 per week. When calculating an individual’s entitlement my Department assesses their income based on returns to the Revenue Commissioners. Where a person is an employee their gross average weekly income for either 2019 or the months of January and February 2020 is used, whichever is the more favourable. Where a person is self-employed their gross average weekly income for 2018 is used to calculate the rate of the pandemic unemployment payment which is the last tax year for which complete verifiable data on self-employed income is available.
If an individual has submitted their 2019 returns to Revenue and they consider that these are more beneficial, they can request a review of their PUP rate of payment from my Department. My Department will examine each case using the updated 2019 Revenue tax information and if the person has average earnings of €200 or more will increase their PUP payment to the higher rate of €350 per week.
Reviews can be submitted to PUPRerate@welfare.ie and should be accompanied by supporting documentation. My Department will process applications for review as quickly as possible.