A Sinn Féin TD says the government needs to do more to help people who are out of work and are struggling to heat their homes.
Sinn Féin tabled a motion this morning in the Dáil appealing to the government to allow people who are in receipt of the PUP to also claim the Fuel Allowance.
Roscommon-Galway TD Claire Kerrane, who brought the bill to the floor of the Dáil, claimed that many people who are out of work due to the pandemic are struggling to both provide food and heat their homes through the PUP payment.
She claimed that the government is ignoring fuel poverty for people out of
work:
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys claimed that the government has provided multiple supports for people struggling through the pandemic.
She also claimed that Sinn Féin's calculations on the cost of the fuel allowance for people on the PUP were wide of the mark: