Paschal Donohoe can't confirm if full €350 pandemic payment will be extended

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says he can't confirm whether the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be extended at the full rate of €350.

He said: "We'll be in a position to confirm that in the coming days, the very reason we increased that payment from approximately €200 to €350 was in recognition of the huge difficulty that so many were facing because of the loss of income and because of the loss of jobs.

"That instinct that guided the increase in the payment of course will be the same instinct that will guide our view in relation to those who were in full-time work with full-time income before they lost their job."

Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 this morning, he said the Cabinet would decide whether the payment should be continued at this rate.

Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Michael D’Arcy TD (Gareth Chaney/Collins)

"What we'll have at the end of this week, we will have our second week of information which will allow us to understand the number of citizens who are leaving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to go back into work.

"We're in the very early phase of reopening our economy and we're looking just to take care with a decision that those two things, firstly recognise the need of those who are depending on that payment for income."

Minister Donohoe also said he would be taking a proposal to Cabinet today in regards to women who were on maternity leave and are not covered by the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).

"We brought in the TWSS as a huge and fast intervention to keep many hundreds of thousands of citizens in a job.

"Myself, the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioner have been working hard on this issue over the last number of weeks.

"What I am looking to do is try to make sure that somebody who is now leaving maternity leave to go onto the wage subsidy scheme, that we can treat them in the same way as somebody else who may already have been on the wage subsidy scheme.

"I accept the concerns that were raised, it's our absolute intention to treat everyone fairly and I hope that later on today we will be able to bring clarity to that important issue."