We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday [Updated]

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This afternoon.

In the Dáil, during Leader’s Questions.

Independent TD Paul Murphy asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the Minister for Employment and Social Protection Heather Humphreys’ announcement (see below) ten minutes before Leaders’ Questions that Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment recipients will not have their pay cut if they travel to green-listed countries.

During her announcement she also said that she has ordered that all cases where PUPs were cut will be reviewed.

However, she said for people who travel to countries not on the green list, “persons can travel for essential reasons only, for example, if you’re going to a non-green list country, it must be for essential reasons such as a bereavement or for health reasons. If you inform your Intreo office in advance, your payment will not be impacted.”

Mr Murphy said the announcement had left penalised PUP recipients wondering if their docked pay will be reinstated and asked for clarity.

He also said that he believes the announcement is on foot of the Free Legal Advice Centre claiming the cuts were illegal – as there has been no legal basis for the cuts.

Mr Murphy also asked the Taoiseach to explain the legal basis that gardai had when they approached a man [Ciaran Cooney] in Dublin Airport on May 7th, told him they were carrying out an ‘immigration check’, only for the man to later learn his PUP was stopped.

The TD asked what legal basis the gardai had to ask for his passport but also what legal basis did they have to transfer data about the man to the Department of Employment and Social Protection – as believed by Mr Cooney.

Mr Cooney’s payment was reinstated after his local TDs Brian Stanley, of Sinn Fein, and Carol Nolan, an Independent, made representations for him.

Mr Murphy said:

“But if there was no legal basis then, there’s still no legal basis now for this discrimination now because the statutory instrument of the 10th of July, explicitly only relates to jobseekers, it does not reference the PUP.”

During his response, Mr Martin didn’t give clarity but repeated that people whose pay was cut can seek a review. He said:

“I’m not responsible for decisions by people on the ground in respect of compliance with social protection. But what I did say yesterday, what I did say yesterday is that I would want anyone who was legitimately, or anyone who lost their PUP, that those cases would be reviewed.”

He also added that the checks will continue and said he had already outlined the department’s legal basis [however neither Mr Martin nor any other politician has clarified the ‘reasonable grounds’ upon which a garda can approach a person at an airport or port irrespective of the Coivd PUP/social welfare payment].

Mr Murphy, frustrated at the lack of clarity, then asked the Taoiseach again to clarify:

“Are PUP recipients who go on holidays 1) to a green-list country 2) to a non-green list country…will they be penalised?”

He also asked that will people who were wrongly penalised have the money reimbursed.

Mr Martin spoke for the next minute and 20 seconds but didn’t answer either question. Leaders’ Questions then came to a close.

Earlier…

This morning/afternoon.

Dail Eireann at the Convention Centre, Dublin.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys (above) said she will sign a regulation that will allow people receiving Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Jobseekers’ Allowance to travel to green list countries without having their payments halted.

Via RTÉ:

The minister also said she has directed her department to review all cases to date where people who went on holiday had their payment stopped.

Under legislation passed in the Dáil last night, anyone in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment must be “genuinely seeking” employment.

Breaking Dáil told PUP recipients won’t have payment cut over travel to green list countries (RTÉ)

Earlier: Reasonable Question

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26 thoughts on “We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday [Updated]

  1. George

    The payments shouldn’t be stopped due to travel anywhere. If they want to take action against people travelling it should apply to everyone. They chose not to go that route though.

  2. Janet, I ate my avatar

    seek employment, does that include if your sector is shut down and you are in contact with your employer ?

    1. Chuckenstein

      Exactly what I was thinking given that retaining contact was the crux of the scheme in the first place.

  3. GiggidyGoo

    This government is a catastrophe. Once the trio of FFGG bedded in together, we knew that they had sold us a pup in the lead up to the election.

    SF must be laughing their botty-bootkins off at this pantomime. We’re a few weeks into it and we’ve had

    Cowen & Callaghan and many more FFers unhappy campers
    Pay cuts for all ministers, but still they get paid more than their predecessors. (Work that one out)
    Extra payments for Super Duper’s
    ‘Immigration’ Police at the airports checking at departure gates (that would be an emigration area, would it not?)
    Varadkar making announcements for departments he’s not responsible for. (He was at that during kenny’s tenure)
    Michilin Martin goes to Europe and comes back with a €5bn Covid fund for us, but has to contribute €16bn to the self-same fund. Actually, that’s not quite true. The €5bn is actually borrowed money which has to be repaid. What Ireland will get is €1.3bn during 2021 and 2022.

    And there’s Header Humphries trying to do a u-turn trying to save the blushes of the club.

    Jeeeeezzzz

    1. Vanessanelle

      Not sure I’d totally agree there

      Fianna Fail – and His MM in particular
      Have proven they are not fit for Government
      Or for the office of An Taoiseach

      Certainly not in their current state

      Jack Chambers as Chief Whip would want to get his act together pronto
      Back benchers from all three parties are giving him the run around
      And MMartin just isn’t up to the Leadership of his own Party
      Naw’ mind the Country as it attempts to manage and exit the most extraordinary event in our economic history

      Their Fine Gael partners are thriving and loving it
      The Greens may well yet come out of this slurry pit clean as a whistle

      All the casualties so far are in the FF dug out

      And a new contender for taking over as leader in Fianna Fail is beginning to emerge – all the dirty fighting within this FF FG Gr arrangement will be in FF

      Just watch

        1. Vanessanelle

          If FF get their act together
          Yeah, I’d be optimistic for this Government concoction to figure it out, and get themselves to Budget 22, at least.

          But someone in FF needs to act quickly

          Maybe McGrath, particularly as he is also Public Expenditure
          This Government needs to take a lot more pain than the 10% off their recently awarded top ups

          The person that comes out an says they should take 30% more until say; Budget 23 will be a rain maker

          And don’t be surprised if a decent number of opposition and indies offer to do the same.

          The entire Dail is totally out of touch with the everyday Paddy in today’s Covid environment
          None of them have had to take any pain, save for a bitta Childcare/ Home Office etc juggling
          Bless
          And they haven’t had any Clinics or Constituency Offices open to the public, so are mainly out of the reach of the real temperature out there

          Wait’ll September and Schools back before the Dail even resumes

          It will be a very different Voter out there
          For all Politicians
          Whatever colour they are

      1. Brughahaha

        FGers are thriving ? Seriously ? The entire PUP fiasco is a result of a Leo brainfart on TWIP …and have you heard any of Heather Humphries various media train crashes ?
        FG and Leo looking no better than MM and FF

        Theyre loving it alright , because the deludedly believe they can crash this Government and reinstall Leo on a wave of public popularity …but then the ability of Blueshirts to live in a bubble of fanatasy is well documented ..just see the last election

  4. Broadbag

    What an absolute mess! ”We took a kicking on Liveline and Twitter so we’re backtracking” how about show some leadership instead!

  5. Dr.Fart

    whats the taniastes job? leo seems to think it means he is still a dictator who can make up the rules whenever he wants for whatever he wants.

      1. Dr.Fart

        it seems like he still thinks he’s running the show. I’d say hes thinking “Martin will keep the seat warm for me. Then I’ll just tell that idiot Ryan to stay out of the way, and it’s back to the never ending Taoiseach”

        1. Brughahaha

          Yep , also seems to believe that the coalitions incompetence bears no reflection on him in the public mind .

          Its almost as if he believes that he’s the unofficial Taoiseach by popular demand …after being trounced in the last election.

          Still as utterly out of touch as ever

          1. sidhe

            which is preferable? the arrogance of varadkar or the incompetence of martin? or whatever ryan is going to bring to the table? a good nap, maybe?

            it’s eye rolling stuff

  6. Joe

    FFGG have demonstrated their total incompetence since lieing and scamming their way into government. So bad are their continuing blunders the opposition ( any shade of opposition) are wiping the floor with them. Paul Murphy is really exposing the lies and sleaze. Hopefully even slimy FG will pull out of government soon to disassociate it’s self from the mess as their ratings will plummet as long as the car crash coalition lasts

    1. Vanessanelle

      The Blueshurts are playing a blinder of a game here
      they won’t be pulling out of anything yet
      they’re too busy watching Fianna Fail struggle day in day out
      and giggling at whatever Green has made a show of themselves today

      We have our very own deep State chess tournament going on in front of us

  7. Anne

    It’s all getting a bit messy really.

    It’s fair enough that you’d have to be resident in the country to receive the pandemic payment, to be seeking other non existent work and that, although I could see the appeal of hibernating out in a remote villa somewhere warm with a pool and sangrias until this is all over, living the dream on your 350 a week, but a two holiday surely isn’t too much to ask for considering people may have paid for flights and accommodation before the pandemic, in Jan and Feb. I mean, airlines aren’t being made compensate people. Lots of people still waiting on refunds from Lying-Air for cancelled flights.

    Lyin-air brought in free changes to entice new customers, but only from bookings made from June 10th. Bookings made earlier in the year, you have to pay change fees, which in some cases are higher than the costs of original booking –
    e.g. : https://twitter.com/Shipman_out/status/1288201846968942594?s=19

    How many people who would be of working class all their lives, and wouldn’t ever have been on a social welfare payment before this pandemic, were thinking, feck it, I’m not subsiding Lyin-Air, I’ll go on my holiday, which they may have taken out loans for at the start of the year, or put on the credit card, that they are still paying off… and then they’re dealing with this level of discrimination against them? Like they are some sort of welfare cheats for wanting to go on that holiday?

    You either ban flights for all, or you don’t. Not this discrimination against people who through no fault of their own were put out of work to stop the spread of this virus.

  8. Anne

    Ah chanks.. someone is reading my rambles.
    Hopefully now with this u turn, you won’t be affected when you need to travel. Essential travel is outside of all this malarky anyway, it seems.

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