Pandemic Unemployment Payment likely to be phased out from September or October

Pandemic unemployment payments will likely be phased out from either September or October, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar said the Government will launch a multi-billion euro plan on Tuesday aimed at stimulating the economy.

He said the Government believes that the best way to avoid tax hikes in the future is by “going for broke” and making sure the economy bounces back quickly.

“We are making a decision on Tuesday in relation to the future of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. It was always introduced as a temporary measure for the pandemic. So it will have to end at some point, but we’re not going to phase it out too quickly. A lot of businesses really aren’t going to reopen until later on in July, hospitality, tourism and aviation, for example, and some don’t even have a date yet for reopening,” he said.

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“The phase out is going to be done cautiously, it’s not going to start immediately, it’ll start probably in September or October.”

“We will also make a decision on closing it to new entrants because really at this stage, very few if any people are losing their jobs now or there’s consequences pandemic. The decision on dates will be made by Cabinet on Tuesday.”

The Fine Gael leader said that the announcement would also feature details about a so-called pandemic dividend which would include plans for how the country moves towards a living wage and introduces new protections around sick pay and pensions.

The Government will also signal plans for the future of business supports schemes like the employment wage subsidy scheme, the CRSS scheme and the commercial rates holiday.

Mr Varadkar was speaking in the Dublin Bay South constituency on Sunday afternoon where he was canvassing with the party's byelection candidate James Geoghegan.

Mr Geoghegan said housing will be a big issue in the election and while he himself was “lucky enough to get a mortgage to buy a home”, he wanted to see others given that chance too.

“The whole point of my agenda in saying it’s a generational crisis is to give everyone the opportunity to own their home. And I do think we will change this country for the worse if we don’t allow that opportunity for every young person to have an equality of opportunity to own their own home”.