The public health measures that have been introduced out of concerns about Omicron, social gathering at Christmas and so on have once again impacted on particular groups of workers and sectors in our society in their ability to work at all or their ability to earn a sustainable living. While the Government has been quite laissez-faire, as has rightly just been referred to in many ways, in giving out EWSS support and other Covid support schemes, certain groups who have been hit time and again, longest, hardest and most repeatedly are being frustrated in applying for or simply denied the income supports under the PUP that the Government said it was reintroducing over the past few weeks. People are encountering major difficulties in securing the payment or being flat-out denied it. They are, once again, jobbing musicians, entertainers and performers, taxi drivers and people in the night-time economy. People in those categories are simply being refused the PUP on the spurious basis that there is no record of four weeks' PRSI contributions. These people do their tax returns at the end of the year and could not possibly show that. They would have to go to an accountant to get it. People are being given lower PUP payments than they were given in March 2020. They are being told they must come to appointments but they may not be able to get those appointments before Christmas. They are people working in exactly the same job doing exactly the same kind of work and are being given different payments or none, or they are being told they will be paid but not when and how much.

This is completely unfair. This is the Government being Scrooge in respect of the people most affected by the public health measures in the teeth of Christmas. I will give some examples. Daniel is a taxi driver who applied for the PUP. He was told to come in for an interview but he must also get a PSC card and may not get his interview before Christmas. John is a musician. He rang that PUP helpline this morning. The helpline could not clarify if he was being reinstated on the PUP or at what rate it would be paid. Another taxi driver is self-employed. He applied for the PUP on 7 December and has had no word from the Department of Social Protection. It is less than two weeks to Christmas. Yesterday he spent eight hours on a taxi rank and earned only €16.80. He had to keep the car going to keep warm. Shane is a musician and self-employed. Work had not returned to a level on which he could survive without support. He had loads of gigs booked for the Christmas period that are all completely gone. He was refused the PUP.

I could go on through the list. This is just not fair. In the teeth of Christmas, I appeal to the Government to instruct the Department of Social Protection to go back to the regime we had in March 2020 whereby people in these sectors who apply for the PUP are given it at the March 2020 rate and are not asked to jump through multiple hoops or denied that support before Christmas.

I thank the Deputy. I am sorry to hear those stories. I know so many people who work in the night-time economy and they had been looking forward to a very different Christmas one where they could do their job, practise their art and maybe make a little bit of money for Christmas and for the year ahead. They now find themselves in a very difficult position. We want to make sure those financial supports are in place for the people in the night-time economy and the experience economy who are going to need them because we are going to need them back whenever we get over this Omicron wave. If the Deputy wants to pass on those details to me later on or directly to my office, I will make sure the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, gets them. I will speak to her today and see if there are any particular flexibilities we can reintroduce because we do not want to leave people without any money for Christmas, for all the reasons I think Members will understand.

As the Deputy will be aware, the PUP has been reopened on a limited basis for individuals, including self-employed people who work in the night-time economy and taxi drivers, who lose their employment on or after Tuesday, 7 December because of the additional public health restrictions. These measures have a negative impact on sectors like hospitality, the night-time economy, the arts and entertainment sectors, and the loss of employment must be linked to those new restrictions. Individuals, including taxi drivers, who satisfy the criteria are eligible for the PUP. The eligibility for the PUP includes self-employed people but they must have been a self-employed PRSI contributor and checks to ensure that are carried out by the Department. I am told the majority of claims are processed quickly and without the need for engagement with the customer before payment commences. The Department says it is not aware of any particular problems in processing claims from any particular sector. There is flexibility provided to self-employed people receiving the PUP to take up occasional or intermittent work and retain their PUP. This measure has assisted people to maintain their business during the pandemic and provides that a person can earn up to €960 from self-employment over an eight-week period without losing his or her PUP. In total, 55,300 such payments are being issued this week, of which 3,800 represent new applications received in the past week as a result of the restrictions introduced on 7 December.

I notice the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media coming into the Chamber. As she is present, jobbing musicians, entertainers and performers on the ground have been appealing for a meeting with her to explain the particular difficulties they are facing, including the anomalies, inconsistencies and refusals.

That is happening.

Okay. I talked to them this morning and they still felt there was no movement. Many of them are being denied. Whatever the Department is telling the Tánaiste, I tell him they are being refused on spurious grounds around PRSI contributions that they could not possibly show. If their gigs have collapsed for December, they are being asked in for an interview and being told they must prove they had those gigs. That means going around to every single venue and getting letters saying there was to be a gig and it has been cancelled. How does someone prove that with a week to go until Christmas?

There are also people who are on a lower payment because their PUP was phased down. Somebody else who comes in after 7 December can get the €350 payment, if he or she can get it. They are in the exact same situation but one person is getting €350 and another €203. It is cruelly unfair. We are asking for consistency and for the Department not to put hoops in front of people in advance of Christmas. The Government should take the same attitude the Tánaiste just displayed towards the EWSS, that is, get the money out first and tie up the anomalies later.

Will the Minster for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media please meet the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland, MEAI, before Christmas to discuss the problems musicians and entertainers are facing?

I met its representatives last week and departmental officials met them on Monday.

They are telling me there has been no movement.

There needs to be some controls and some checks and balances.

There are none on the EWSS.

This is ultimately taxpayers' money. As the Deputy will know from the published reports, there have been very large overpayments of the PUP and there has also been fraud related to it. This is taxpayers' money and we must ensure we minimise that. Among the checks and controls is asking people to show evidence that they were self-employed. Anyone who is self-employed makes PRSI class S contributions and should be able to show that-----

At the end of the year.

-----but I hear what the Deputy is saying. There are people who work in the night-time economy and who have had the devastating news in the past few weeks that that sector of the economy is being shut down again until we do not know when. We need to make sure they get the money they need to get through Christmas and thereafter. I will certainly take this up with the Minster, Deputy Humphreys. Again, if the Deputy wants to pass on those individual instances to my office I will ensure she gets them.