As many businesses hope to reopen in December, a number of workers who are concerned about whether they will be able to access the pandemic unemployment payment should they lose work again next year have been in touch with me. An extension was granted to keep the pandemic unemployment payment open to new applicants until the end of the year. Will the Government extend that further to ensure that workers will have certainty should they lose work in the new year if restrictions are reintroduced? Nobody wants workers to be worried over the Christmas period about this. Can the Tánaiste provide certainty on the extension of the payment?

I thank the Deputy. It is a very fair question. I will have to check that with the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys. My recollection is that the pandemic unemployment payment will stay in place until March of next year. It may not be open to new entrants from a certain point. We would all agree that if we go back into further restrictions in the new year we would not want people to be unable to avail of the pandemic unemployment payment if they lost their jobs for a third time, which would be an extraordinary thing to happen to anybody. I will contact the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and come back to the Deputy.