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Coalition TDs are pressuring ministers to reverse the cuts to Covid payments, as details of the new riots at the cabinet table may be revealed this weekend.
Fianna Fáil’s senior TDs, Willie O’Dea and Barry Cowen, have written separately to the Minister of Public Expenditure, Michael McGrath, asking him to reinstate the full payment of € 350 for pandemic unemployment (PUP). The pressure is also coming from the Greens, with influential TD Neasa Hourigan saying that the PUP should be “absolutely” restored to its maximum rate as more areas face public health restrictions.
With more than 150,000 people receiving payment from Covid, the Coalition is reviewing its future before the Budget on October 13. Two government sources said the new maximum rate of € 300 could be maintained beyond February 1 next year when it will be lowered. up to € 250.
It comes as the Sunday Independent may reveal that Green’s deputy leader, Catherine Martin, chided her colleagues at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting for the decision to approve 10 new advisers to junior ministers on the same day that thousands of unemployed received payments. reduced by pandemic. “She was quite angry. Obviously it was a terrible idea,” said a source of opinion for the Minister of Culture. “He said it looks very bad, that this is not the time.”
A spokesperson for Ms Martin declined to comment.
It can also be revealed that:
- The ‘stay and spend’ tax refund scheme, to be launched this week, will be reviewed as restrictions will prevent many from ‘staying on vacation’.
- A task force examining the future of the tourism industry is likely to recommend a VAT reduction for the sector and rapid tests at Irish airports to boost tourism abroad.
- Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is examining how to get employees back to the workplace next year amid growing concern about empty office space in Dublin.
Ms Martin’s surprise intervention took place at the same cabinet meeting where Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys issued a warning about the recent interventions of Fianna Fáil’s TDs calling for the restoration of full pandemic payment.
“He said it is more difficult to handle these situations when the government TDs are in the media calling for the revocation of the government’s policy,” said a cabinet source.
Ms Humphreys’ allies played down her comments, saying they were not intended to be a reprimand to Fianna Fáil MPs, but rather an observation that decisions about Covid-related spending should be made as a government rather than talking about them in the media.
The future of PUP is set to become one of the key budget battlefields, with increasing pressure within Fianna Fáil and the Greens for payment to be reinstated. The PUP has been reduced to between 203 and 300 euros, depending on people’s earnings before the crisis, and the reduced payments affected the bank accounts of workers laid off this week.
In a letter to Mr. McGrath, seen by the Sunday Independent, Mr. Cowen has also criticized the lack of implementation of a series of health measures that they, as “prime negotiators” for Fianna Fáil, agreed with Fine Gael at the last year’s budget.
“We agreed on a reduction in prescription charges, changes in thresholds for medical cards, an extension of free medical care; [and the] introduction of free dental care for children under 6 years. All were to be promulgated as of July. None of these have happened. “
Urging McGrath to find funding for these measures, the former agriculture minister adds: “This is a bad reflection of Fianna Fáil if we do not fulfill the commitments that you and I negotiated.”
In a separate letter to the Minister of Public Expenditure, O’Dea said: “You will be aware of the importance of maintaining an identity for Fianna Fáil in this Government. An obvious way to do this would be to insist on withholding Covid payments at their previous level. at least until the country begins to emerge from this current pandemic. “
Another director of Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan said: “If we are going to close businesses and people are going to lose their jobs, then we have to make sure we provide financial support to those people and businesses.”
Hourigan, who chairs the Budget Oversight Committee, told this newspaper: “It should absolutely be reset to 350 euros. We can see from tax collection and savings levels that there is a certain cohort that has not been negatively affected by Covid. They are actually surviving quite well financially. However, there is a definite group of people with lower incomes or precarious jobs who are really struggling. “
McGrath told the cabinet last week that the government will spend approximately € 9 billion on Covid-19 next year, most of which will go to health and wellness.
The government is also examining what one source described as the “tricky problem” of the roughly 30,000 third-level students who continue to receive PUPs even when they return to college this fall.
There is a fear that any move to eliminate student payments will provoke a backlash from USI and others.
The Department of Social Protection said it does not have a record of the number of students in PUP who intend to return to education for the next academic year.
“People who receive PUPs must continue to meet the conditions for the scheme to maintain continuous payment,” said a spokesperson.
“Any decision regarding the PUP, other than those described in the July Stimulus Package, is a Government matter and can be made in the context of the next Budget.”
The Stay and Spend tax refund plan will also be reviewed as part of the budget process.
The scheme, which offers a tax credit of up to € 125 and is designed to boost sales in the hospitality sector, was launched less than four weeks ago and takes effect as of this Thursday.
“There is only a feeling that you have to examine it, give it [the] rapid changes of the pandemic, “said a government source. Around 270 million euros has been set aside to cover the costs of the plan, but sources admit that it may not be depleted.
With the tourism and hospitality sector damaged by the Covid crisis, Tourism Minister Catherine Martin is expected to increase a VAT cut for the industry in budget negotiations.
The Government’s own Tourism Recovery Task Force is expected to recommend a cut to the rate of 13.5%, which will also call for rapid tests at Irish airports to allow for the resumption of some of the tourism abroad, as well as a Enhanced adaptation fund for businesses to help They prepared them to dine outside during the winter.
Ms Martin is also pushing a live events package after a positive response to a € 5 million pilot program that helps reduce the risk of costs for new productions that may subsequently be canceled due to Covid.
Meanwhile, Donohoe is privately concerned about the amount of empty office space in Dublin and elsewhere, as employees are encouraged to work from home.
Last week he said he was hopeful that throughout 2021 workers can be helped to return to the offices, even part-time.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, is pushing for a specific fund to be established to pay for the reception of unaccompanied minors from migrant camps.
It costs around € 150,000 to provide support to each unaccompanied minor who arrives in the State.
O’Gorman also wants more funding to address overspending from Tusla’s budget, which spent 27 million euros more than planned this year, primarily providing private residential services for children in care. No significant cuts in the cost of childcare are anticipated in this Budget, and sector reviews should not take place until next year.
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