Carol Nolan urges fairness for recipients of COVID-19 payment
Carol Nolan spoke on 28 July 2020 about the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment bill, welcoming its placement on a formal statutory footing and urging fair, flexible application. She questioned allocations for Exceptional Needs Payments and called for better support for financially insecure recipients, including those on invalidity pensions, disability and carers allowance, and self-employed cultural workers.
Bill and statutory footing
The deputy welcomed the publication of the bill which places the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment on a formal statutory footing and allows for urgent needs payments under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.
Exceptional Needs Payments allocation
She asked the minister what the allocation will be for this year's Exceptional Needs Payments and whether the overall allocation will be reduced to meet increased demand for the pandemic unemployment payment. Nolan highlighted that from 2014 to the present over 100,000 people annually have used Exceptional Needs Payments.
Support for vulnerable recipients
The deputy warned that those most financially insecure are the ones who rely on Exceptional Needs Payments and said people on invalidity pensions, disability allowance and carers allowance are finding it very difficult to survive. She appealed for consideration of these payments in the forthcoming budget to reflect cost-of-living pressures.
Self-employed and cultural sector
Nolan welcomed Section 7 of the bill confirming that the pandemic unemployment payment is an unemployment benefit based on PRSI available to self-employed contributors. She stressed this is especially important for self-employed people in the arts, music and cultural sectors who have been severely impacted and faced stress and hardship.
Fairness in application and communication
The deputy raised concerns about how the spirit of social protection law is being applied, citing a case of a musician in Offaly who had the payment cut after attending a funeral and was later reinstated by the previous minister after six weeks. She called for improved communication, a change of attitude, and fair, flexible treatment of genuine cases, while commending department staff - Goera Magat.
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Minister, I want to welcome the publication of this bill, which puts the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment on a formal statutory footing. That should assist in providing a greater degree of certainty for the recipients of the payment. It also allows you to provide for urgent needs payments by way of supplementary welfare allowance. And this is particularly important because, as you know, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department may make a single Exceptional Needs Payment to help meet essential one-off expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. Every year from 2014 to the present, over 100,000 people have to avail of these payments. Perhaps, Minister, you might inform me what the allocation for this year's Exceptional Needs Payments will be. Will there be a reduction in the overall allocation to meet the increased demand for the pandemic unemployment payment, and if so, by how much? This is important because it is usually those who are most financially insecure who need these payments in terms of unforeseen circumstances and often in a crisis that occurs. People also on invalidity pensions, disability allowance and cares allowance, are finding it very, very difficult to survive in the current times. And I do feel like that what they get every week is just paltry, and it needs to be looked at in line with, you know, the cost of living and everything else, just to allow them to survive. And I would appeal to you that in the forthcoming budget, something be done there in regard to those payments as well. I want to specifically acknowledge the amendment contained within Section 7 of the Bill, which confirms that COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment is an unemployment benefit based on PRSI available to self-employed contributors. That is incredibly important because we know that many self-employed people, especially in the arts, music and cultural space, have been hugely and negatively impacted during this crisis. They've found it very, very difficult to cope and indeed to survive. And it has been a very stressful time for them. And the events of the pandemic obviously were outside of their control, so they do need fair play. What I would say, Minister, is that while the letter of this bill is good as far as it goes, there is a genuine problem emerging in terms of how the spirit of social protection law is being applied. We've heard in recent days of those who travelled abroad without any idea by doing so they would face a penalty. And I know I dealt with a musician in Offaly who unfairly had the payment cut. And he was attending a funeral that he had to attend. He didn't know about the rules, genuinely didn't. And he actually said to me, I wouldn't have gone to that funeral if I knew about the rules. But I do want to acknowledge the help from the previous minister, Minister Daugherty, in reinstating the payment, which was reinstated after six weeks. But I believe that communication and a change of attitude is needed, that there are genuine people, genuine circumstances, and that we have to be fair and flexible with people. And I do want to commend the department staff for their incredible work also. Goera Magat.
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