Man challenges the government’s decision to stop his Covid-19 PUP after he temporarily left Ireland

A ROMANIAN MAN living in Ireland for many years has appealed to the High Court against the State’s decision to stop paying him the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) after he temporarily left the State for family reasons .

The action has been taken by Mihai Adrian Hofman, who has resided in Ireland since 2010.

Like many thousands of workers, Hofman, who works as a chef, began receiving PUP payments in late March this year.

At the end of June, he had to return to Romania due to a family emergency. As a consequence of his departure from the State, his PUP payment was unilaterally suspended.

He returned to Ireland on July 21. He had intended to return a week earlier, but was prevented from doing so due to a flight cancellation.

He claims that the decision was unreasonable, against common sense, and was wrong in law.

As an Irish resident, he was entitled to the PUP payment, it is claimed.

Furthermore, you claim that the decision was illegal because you were not notified or given an opportunity to address the issues of why your PUP was stopped.

You tried to get your PUP payment back and pay off your arrears. However, the Minister of Social Protection has refused to do so.

As a result, Hofman, residing at Willowbrook Lodge, Celbridge Co Kildare, has taken legal action against the Irish Minister for Social Protection and the Attorney General.

In his action, Hofman seeks orders to overturn the Minister’s decision to refuse to reinstate his PUP payments and return back payments to him.

He also requests statements including that the Minister erred in law by suspending the payment of Hofman’s PUP, and that he had the right to receive notice and an opportunity to address the issues raised by the Minister before the payment was stopped.

Hofman’s attorney, Derek Shortall SC, with Brendan Hennessy Bl, told the court that a similar action had been brought in court in recent weeks, but that action had been resolved.

The matter was brought before Judge Charles Meenan today, who, ex parte, granted Hofman permission to file his challenge.

The judge returned the matter to a date in January.