A number of government backbenchers have called for the Covid pandemic payment to be restored to €350 a week for people who have lost their jobs because of Covid Level Three restrictions.
From tomorrow people on the payment will notice a change in their rates to a tiered system of either €300, €250 or €203, depending on what the person was earning before the pandemic.
Fianna Fáil TD and former Minister Barry Cowen has said it should be restored to €350, something supported by TD Jim O'Callaghan and hinted at by Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien.
Sinn Féin has called for a €350 rate for everyone until the end of the year. However, it's understood the Government is unlikely to change the new system.
Pandemic Unemployment Payment
It has been extended into next year and reopened to new applicants with officials believing the tiered system based on previous earnings is a fair one.
How the pandemic payment is managed through 2021 will be reviewed as part of the budget negotiations.
Sinn Féin has also called for a renewal of the ban on evictions while the level three restrictions are in place in Dublin.
While the Government has confirmed it plans to use social media influencers to better get its Covid message across to young people.
