People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett says cuts to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) need to take in different circumstances for different sectors.
Some 110,000 people have seen a reduction in their PUP from €350 to €203 a week.
The Dún Laoghaire deputy told The Pat Kenny Show: "This is something I've been warning the Government about for weeks, that particular sectors and particular types of employment were likely to face very unjust cuts in their income supports because of the Government's failure to recognise how their particular sectors were going to be disproportionately hit by COVID."
Citing the arts and live entertainment sector, he said: "This decision to cut them is completely failing to take into account the nature of their employment.
"And effectively punishing them for being low paid and precarious in their employment.
"Randomly picking 2018 as a benchmark against which to cut their income, another big cohort in this regard who've been massively hit are taxi drivers.
"I don't know what the numbers are, but I would say thousands of taxi drivers saw their payments cut yesterday.
"After they pay off all their costs, it brings their income down - their insurance, their repayments on their car, rents to taxi companies - all of that."
"They want to get back to work, but their sectors have been decimated and there is no chance whatsoever of them being able to fully recover their normal earnings at anytime in the near or foreseeable future."
"I think you need to look very specifically at the sectors."
"Really what needs to happen, if you take two of the cohorts that I've mentioned...these payments need to be maintained as a form of income subsidy, but where they can also do some work on top of that.
"Let's remember, that's what's being done for big companies at the moment: they're getting an income subsidy scheme to pay the wages of their employees in order to nurse them back to recovery."
Business owner Gerard is self-employed and had been building up his business for 18 months before the pandemic.
He is reliant on the PUP for his income, but got a text message on Monday to say his payment was being cut.
He said: "Basically what you're trying to do is protect the business and you're trying to cutback on all sort of outgoings and expenditures.
"The COVID payment was helping with that, I wouldn't say it solves any problems but it alleviates some."
"I got the text on Monday evening at about 5.30, maybe 6 o'clock, it was from the ASP.
"It was just a generic text saying 'We're cutting benefits. Click on here to see if it affects you'.
"You go through, and there's a lot to be read, and it gets to the self-employed bit - and it says 'we're taking into consideration 2018 earnings and not 2019 earnings'.
"Given that my business is very new, about 18-months-old, my 2018 earnings were not to be reckoned.
"So they judged me on that".
"I was busy yesterday sort of getting in contact with politicians and obviously I e-mailed yourselves in a vent, I suppose.
"There are ways around it, but what you have to do is submit your 2019 accounts online.
"A lot of self-employed people wouldn't necessarily be in a position to do that very quickly.
"Fortunately I am - I've got kids going to third level, so I had to prepare for SUSI.
"So I have my accounts and now today I'm going to be on with my accountant to get them submitted online".
He also says the payment should not be a 'one size fits all' approach.
"I do know kids who were working in the local shop and might be just earning €80 or €90 a week suddenly going to €350 and they get pared back to €203 now with me.
"That did cross my mind yesterday and it also hurt, I was feeling that I'm trying to provide for a family - these guys are kids, and fair play to them, they're getting out and going to work - but we're all in the same basket".
"But the biggest anomaly for me was that when I applied for SUSI, they take in 2019 earnings, so I can't necessarily qualify for SUSI cause I earn too much - and I can't qualify for the COVID payment cause I don't earn enough".
