Minister Heather Humphreys says the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will have to be "sustainable" if it is to be extended beyond April.
She says the current plan is for the PUP to be ended in April and it's difficult for the payment to go beyond that month.
However, Minister Humphreys told The Joe Finnegan Show that the payment might have to be extended and that the reduction to the PUP has made it "fairer".
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The €350 a week payment was recently reduced to between €203 and €300 - depending on the recipient's previous income.
The Social Protection Minister told Shannonside Northern Sound that she will keep the payment under consideration ahead of the Budget 2021 announcement:
