These include the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), the wage subsidy scheme and a range of other business supports. It is likely to continue the wage subsidy scheme, perhaps at lower levels, for a period at least. Supports for specific sectors, to help reopening and provide cash to companies which must still remain closed, is also anticipated. The political difficulty here will be that there are some companies that will not survive without wage subsidies even when the economy reopens. There is a case, however, for examining how the welfare system deals with such issues and looking at the cost implications of longer-term improvements to social and economic supports.

Source: The Irish Times May 02, 2021 23:03 UTC