Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020

Public bill · Government · Presented

Creates a formal Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and lets the State treat it as a proper social insurance benefit, rather than just an emergency allowance. It also gives workers and some self-employed people who lost work because of the pandemic credited PRSI contributions for a period, helping protect future access to payments like pensions, illness benefit and maternity or paternity benefit. The law also covers special treatment for wage subsidy schemes, sets the payment rate and duration by regulation, and allows some earlier emergency spending to be charged to the Social Insurance Fund.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to amend and extend the Social Welfare Acts; to provide for a new benefit to mitigate the adverse economic effects of the spread of the disease known as Covid-19; to provide for the attribution of paid social insurance contributions in respect of payments arising directly from the economic impacts of that disease; and to provide for related matters.

Last updated 17 August 2020