by Alan Jacques
LIMERICK Labour Party councillor Conor Sheehan has called for workers in the hospitality and events industry to be given certainty through the restoration of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) in its entirety.
Cllr Sheehan said that Tuesday’s announcement of additional restrictions to curb the spread of Covid now means that many predominantly young workers in Limerick will be out of work again.
“The announcement this Tuesday effectively means that the night economy will effectively shut down less than a month after it reopened,” Cllr Sheehan told the Limerick Post this Wednesday.
“This announcement coincides with the PUP payment being cut further and the Government needs to do the right and responsible thing and immediately pause this cut,” he added.
The City North representative maintains that workers now need certainty.
“Their livelihoods, through no fault of their own, are effectively being taken away from them. We need to prevent these workers from experiencing any further economic hardship.
“This news will be particularly devastating to workers and businesses as it comes at the busiest time of year for the nightlife sector and the comments from the Taoiseach in the Dáil that these changes won’t be ‘hugely impactful’ reeks of callous indifference,” he concluded.
