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Up to 300,000 beneficiaries of the pandemic unemployment payment are expected to receive the arrears they are owed by next week, the Joint Committee for Social Protection, Community, Rural Development and the Oireachtas Islands was informed.
The committee also heard that the Christmas bonus will be paid on December 8 to PUP recipients who have claimed the benefit for at least 17 weeks since its launch, and are still in the program for the week of December 3.
The Christmas bonus will cost around 94 million euros.
In relation to claims for arrears, the undersecretary of the Department of Social Protection, Teresa Leonard, acknowledged that some cases progress more slowly, due to their complexity and inadequate or inaccurate information, and would have to be processed manually.
Committee chair Denis Naughten highlighted the importance of payments being made before the end of the year, as otherwise people could end up paying taxes on the payment in fiscal year 2021, and have non-tax credits. used in 2020.
Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane raised the issue of the requirement to be “genuinely looking for work” while in the PUP, and asked if there were any sanctions or penalties.
Ms. Leonard said that the requirement to actually look for work was a rule of the PUP program.
However, he said he was being treated “very lightly and sensitively,” and that the department was not pursuing anyone at this time.
Ms Leonard said: “Looking for work genuinely is the rule, but in this environment we are not applying it as religiously as we normally would, but there is a rule and it is applicable to the PUP scheme.”
He noted that the department was under pressure in terms of resources, with most staff prioritizing payment processing.
Leonard said activation services were available but as of now, no sanctions or reviews were being applied.
He noted that activation services were available if people requested them, but the department had not formally invited anyone to use the services.
Fianna Fáil TD Eamon O Cuiv said it was strange to have a rule but not apply it, and said that if there was a rule, it should apply, as otherwise they could end up in an “Alice in Wonderland” situation, where a rule was suddenly invoked.
He said the department shouldn’t surprise people by suddenly applying it later.
Department of Social Protection Undersecretary Ronan Hession said he could not comment on the merits of the government’s policy.
He said the department was taking a “pragmatic” approach during the pandemic, adding that he didn’t think it was a problem if people didn’t look for work when their employment sector was closed.
Labor Sen. Mark Wall asked if an instruction had been sent to welfare offices not to enforce the rule, as it would not be desirable for some staff to enforce it and others not.
MP Kerrane also asked how the department would differentiate between sectors that are still closed and those that are open and in which labor activation measures should be more actively applied.
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