The Social Protection Minister says the winding down of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is about returning equality to the social welfare system.
Heather Humphreys was speaking today after the launch of the Government's National Economic Plan.
The PUP will be cut by €50 in September and again in November, before being scrapped in February.
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New entrants will no longer be accepted from July 1st, while students won't get access to the payment from September.
The opposition has criticised the move but Minister Heather Humphreys says the payment was only ever an emergency measure:
