The Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020, provides, amongst other provisions, for the attribution of social insurance contributions, for a prescribed period, to insured persons who were beneficiaries of certain Covid-19 income support payments. These payments include the pandemic unemployment payment.
The attribution of contributions measure will ensure that persons entitled to and in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment will have social insurance contributions attributed to them at the same value as they were paying while employed immediately before going on the payment.
The measure means that people who lost their jobs arising from the Covid-19 pandemic will not be disadvantaged in accessing social insurance benefits in the future.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.