Donegal TD Pearse Doherty has slammed Government plans to wind down the Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme.
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance said there is “a moral obligation” to support those who are restricted from going back to work because of public health guidance.
More than 11,000 across Donegal are still reliant on some form of Government payment as a result of Covid.
Mr Doherty told Morning Ireland that the supports will be phased out naturally as people start to go back to work, and over 125,000 have gone back to work since reopenings began this year.
He said that by September not everyone can go back to work due to restrictions.
He said that workers in aviation, event management, hospitality and other sectors will still be restricted from going back to work and Government is saying “we are cutting your supports and forget about ‘we’re all in it together’.”
He said the Government has “pulled the rug from under these people” by reducing supports and has strayed from the principle of supporting those as long as there were barriers on a return to work due to public health guidelines.