I raise the issue of the decision to tax the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, in 2021 and its impact, particularly on low-income families. My office, as I am sure is the case in the offices of Members around the country, has been contacted by people who are fearful of the impact this will have on their day-to-day living costs, particularly when one considers utility bills and cost of living expenses. Will the decision be reviewed?

There is another element to this that affects people who have already been asked to pay. The Department of Social Protection is not talking to Revenue because it cannot get statements of accounts. Assumptions are then made by Revenue that distinctly disadvantage people who are being asked to pay this tax at a much higher level than is reflective of what they received.

The position is that the PUP, like most social welfare payments, is subject to income tax and the universal social charge, USC, in the same way, for example, as the State pension. Child benefit is exempt, but most social welfare payments are subject to tax if one earns enough money to pay income tax and the USC. Someone who, for example, earned €36,000 last year from work pays the same tax as someone who earned €36,000 comprising €10,000 in PUP and €26,000 from work. That is the way it works and it is only fair. We are allowing people to discharge that liability and pay that tax over a period of four years.