'It was the right thing to do' - Minister on PUP cuts

“It was the right thing to do. We cannot be paying people that are living outside the country,” Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has said.

She was responding to criticism over the Government’s decision to cut the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) for people who leave the country. At the weekend, the department confirmed 104 people's welfare payment had been stopped with the reason given that they had flown abroad.

The Government has faced a backlash from some quarters for the decision, including from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, which is questioning the legality of the move. But Minister Humphreys defended the government's position, saying many of the people were found to have been permanently leaving the country.

“What we are doing is not against the law. In 2012 a law was passed that allowed social welfare inspectors to carry out these checks at Dublin Airport and port and that law was brought through the Dáil by former Minister Joan Burton,” she explained.