There was a big sigh of relief when it was announced in the budget that the Christmas bonus will be paid this year at 100%. There was also an announcement that it will be extended to those on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and those on jobseeker's allowance but there is an added qualification in that a person will need to have been on the payment for four months. Does that mean that people in Dublin who may have lost their jobs on 18 or 19 September when level 3 restrictions were imposed will not get the payment? Does that mean that people in County Donegal who may have lost their jobs and gone on the PUP on 25 September will not get the bonus payment? Will the same be true for people in counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan where level 4 restrictions will be in place from tonight? This has to be looked at and addressed and everybody who is on jobseeker's allowance or the PUP should be getting the bonus payment this Christmas.

At the moment, and indeed for many years, the Christmas bonus is paid to pensioners and to those who are on a long-term social welfare payment for more than 15 months. In the budget we changed this so that the Christmas bonus will now be available to anyone who has been on the PUP or jobseeker's allowance for four of the last nine months. As such it is being opened up to many hundreds of thousands of people who would not have received it previously.