Regina Doherty: Covid payment will 'absolutely have to be extended'
Regina Doherty has confirmed the Covid-19 pandemic payment will "absolutely have to be extended".
Speaking in the Dáil, the Minister for Social Protection said although the government haven't made the official decision yet, she wished to "categorically put on the record", the payment "will stand for all of the phases until society is reopened again".
Ms Doherty acknowledged that the economy had been "put into sleep mode", and it was important that the state-supported those who had lost income through the pandemic.
Over 815,000 people have signed up to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment since it was introduced, the equivalent of a four-year caseload for the department, in two months.
The €350 per week payment is due to run out on June 9, however, a number of employment sectors will not be able to return to work at this time due to the state's stepwise plan to reopen lockdown restrictions.
Minister Doherty said that as the country reopens: "We're well aware it will be different times for different people, I can absolutely confirm the payment will be extended and is currently under active consideration" at department level.
"The actual dimensions of it are being made by my own department and department finance but we will continue to support people as we have done," she said.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe sparked concern a number of weeks ago, when he said the welfare subsidies, "cannot be sustained indefinitely" but they can be paid out for long enough to allow incomes to be protected ‘for as long as possible’.
An announcement is expected in the next few weeks.
