Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
106. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection if the pandemic unemployment payment will be reviewed as workers return to work; if the payment will remain open beyond 1 July 2021; and if workers who return to work on fewer hours or on a reduced hourly rate of pay will retain their payment level based on their weekly pay pre-March 2020. [35754/21]
View answerCan the Minister for Social Protection tell me if the pandemic unemployment payment will be reviewed as workers return to work and if application for the payment will remain open beyond 1 July 2021? I am aware that the Minister has extended this until 7 July but it should be pushed out further. Will workers, who return to work on fewer hours on a reduced hourly rate of pay retain their payment level based on their weekly pay pre-March 2020?
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Approximately 227,980 people received a pandemic unemployment payment this week, representing a drop of 254,000, or almost 53%, since February when approximately 482,000 people were in receipt of the payment. We expect many more people to close their PUP over the coming period. The Government has throughout the pandemic done its best to support workers affected by job losses and will continue to do so. That is why, in order to allow as much time as possible for employment to recover, it has been decided to phase the return to normal jobseeker arrangements over an extended period. Accordingly, the PUP rates of payment will remain unchanged until September when they will commence a gradual, phased reduction over six months back to standard jobseeker terms.
We will of course keep this timeline under review as we have always done in the light of the evolving nature of the pandemic. That is why I have announced that the PUP scheme will close to new entrants from 8 July 2021, which is a week later than was previously agreed. This will allow people who may have returned to work this week in preparation for a re-opening next week to access the PUP if they need it.
Where an employee closes their pandemic unemployment payment to return to work but has been temporarily placed on a shorter working week they may be entitled to a jobseeker’s payment or short-time work support.
Short-time work support is a social insurance income support payment provided under jobseeker's benefit. An individual’s eligibility for short-time work support is dependent on the extent to which their working days are reduced. They must be temporarily working a standard reduced weekly work pattern, working three days or less per week, having previously worked full time. The payment is made in respect of the days of work that have been lost and is not taxable.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Where a person is working part-time, up to three days per week, and does not have a standard work pattern he or she may be eligible for jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance for the days he or she is unemployed and is not being paid.
In addition a self-employed person may undertake limited self-employment and retain eligibility for the PUP. Self-employed persons can earn up to €960 over an eight-week rolling period, while retaining their full entitlement to the PUP.
I would advise any person to engage with their Intreo centre to discuss his or her entitlement according to his or her particular circumstances. Separately, under the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, an employer can receive State support to fund the wages of their staff including in situations of reduced hours of work.
The particular reason I tabled this question on Monday on the extension for new entrants was because I was hearing in the background about clouds on the horizon with regard to the Delta variant etc. Many workers probably have gone back to begin the reopening and may have to go back on the PUP again. We do not know what is happening with regard to the Delta variant of the virus. We are told we will have to wait two and a half weeks or so to see what is happening in Scotland, in the UK, how it is impacting on hospitalisations and that type of thing. It is the responsibility of the Government to extend the application period beyond 8 July until at least the end of the month, mid-August or the end of that month. We do not know what will happen and the situation is more precarious than we had anticipated. It is now the Minister's responsibility to extend that period beyond what has been announced to give workers that peace of mind.
It is important to say that we keep everything under review. Throughout the pandemic we have had to adapt our approach in line with the public health advice. We have kept the PUP open for applications for an extra week until 8 July. That means that any staff who may have gone back to work in the expectation of indoor hospitality reopening next week will have the opportunity to reapply for the PUP if they need to do that. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and others have welcomed that we have extended it. As I said at the outset we keep everything under review but the decision, which is a fair one, is to leave this application period open until 8 July.
I urge the Minister to review this again. I am aware, from having spoken to people in the trade union movement, that they want workers to go back to work to a safe environment. That is the key issue for them but they also want people to get back to work.
On the second part of my question on which I will speak briefly, I have been hearing anecdotal evidence that workers have been brought back to the workplace under different terms and conditions where they may have been previously working for 30 hours and these have now been reduced to 20 hours. In some cases wages have also been reduced. Workers who were on €12 an hour have been reduced down to the minimum wage. There is a concern there.
Alternatively, I have been hearing that workers have been brought back in for 50 hours a week because the employers cannot get staff in some areas. Very significant anecdotal messaging is going on in the workplace. Workers who potentially are going back to work for fewer hours than they were before in March 2020 should be kept on the level of the PUP that they were on to protect them. That is the easier way to do it, rather than the jobseeker's payment or short-time working week option.
I agree with the Deputy. There have been many anecdotal reports in the media about people staying on PUP and not returning to work, which we have all heard. The fact is that the numbers on the PUP fell by a quarter of a million since February. This clearly tells me that people want to get back to work as their sectors reopen and do not want to be sitting at home. I am strongly of this view.
For people who are going back to work and may only have three days per week, they can apply under the short-time work scheme and receive jobseeker's payment in respect of the days that they do not work. If a person, for example, works for less than 24 hours per week he or she can receive support under the part-time job incentive scheme. A number of options are available to people and the best thing I would say to people is to engage with their local Intreo office to see what supports are there and what alternatives can be looked at.
