Pandemic Unemployment Payment Changes

lughildanach

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Here is a link to the changes in the payment https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/84add-july-stimulus-social-protection/

The scheme will be closed to new applicants from 17th September. For those already on the payment, there will be three rates, 300, 250 and 200, depending on your income before the pandemic. Rates will be further reduced in the new year, and the scheme will be wound up by April 2021.

Employment support and education schemes have also been amended to allow those on the PUP to qualify, eg. Back to Education Allowance, JobsPlus and Back to Work Enterprise Allowance.

Still no clarity or detail in how income is determined for deciding which band you qualify for, and still no clarity about whether the self-employed with reduced income can avail of the payment.
 
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This is all so confusing- I'm self-employed and have had my PUP payment terminated because the Dept says they have no record of Revenue returns or of PRSI payments from me- even though I have submitted my current tax clearance cert & evidence of Class S PRSI payments right up to 2018, as required. Am I supposed to apply again under this scheme? Or do I continue to appeal the PUP decision and then transfer over when there's some actual clarity? It's so bloody frustrating to be a small (tiny!) business beavering away, paying taxes correctly and then treated like you're some kind of scammer.
 
This is all so confusing- I'm self-employed and have had my PUP payment terminated because the Dept says they have no record of Revenue returns or of PRSI payments from me- even though I have submitted my current tax clearance cert & evidence of Class S PRSI payments right up to 2018, as required. Am I supposed to apply again under this scheme? Or do I continue to appeal the PUP decision and then transfer over when there's some actual clarity? It's so bloody frustrating to be a small (tiny!) business beavering away, paying taxes correctly and then treated like you're some kind of scammer.
If you establish that a mistake was made and that you do actually have the contributions, you should be placed in the position that you should have been. If they advise existing claimants to make new applications to qualify under the new rules, then you should do that too. I appreciate it is frustrating when records are not inaccurate. I would expect that it will sort itself out, after all you appear to qualify, its just the records that are the problem.
 
Here is the Bill that is currently before the Oireachtas. It gives some clarity on certain aspects of the payment, although there will also be accompanying Regulations that will be made at a later date, so full details on all aspects are not yet available.


Thank you for your response! The frustrating part is that I've still heard nothing back. I've been trying to phone Citizen's Advice but they haven't returned my crequest for call-backs, and now the phonelines seem to be off. I can't find anywhere to phone up to speak with an actual person, and all the while my funds are getting lower and lower as I still have no payment coming in. Any suggestions for speeding up the process, or at least checking on progress? I've sent my appeal to the address provided, but it's been 3 weeks now and still no reply or acknowledgement....
 
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