Wexford TD Verona Murphy has said she is reducing her Dáil salary to the level of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) for the duration of lockdown.
The Independent TD said she was adopting the reduced pay in solidarity with the people who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
Ms Murphy, who said she has no other forms of income, said she asked the clerk of the Dáil to make the changes to her wages to reduce them to the PUP amount.
The maximum weekly amount people can receive on the PUP is €350.
Speaking on The Hard Shoulder, Ms Murphy added that she was against the imposition of Level 5 restrictions and said its continuation was "outrageous".
She added that "we are all in this together".
On making the decision to reduce her salary, she said: "For me it's a show of solidarity to those in Wexford particularly who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
"I was advised that I would be told that it was populist.
"The reality is three weeks ago I asked that if we were moving to Level 5 and those decisions were being made by Cabinet that the Cabinet should reduce their salary.
"Often people in positions of power make decisions never understanding the consequences or bearing they have on the people they're making those decisions for.
"For me, the real show of we're all in this together was if is everyone was on the same payment.
"At the end of the day, it's a decision I made, I wrote to the clerk of the Dáil and asked him that for the period of lockdown, which may go beyond six weeks, [my salary would be reduced].
"Many people are still working or would be, if the decision wasn't made to make them unemployed."
Level 5
Ms Murphy went on to say that she does not support the Level 5 restrictions and that they were "outrageous".
She said: "I do not support the Level 5 lockdown, I don't believe that the decisions that are being made should result in Level 5.
"We are in the very unprecedented situation of a pandemic.
"I believe if everybody else is going to suffer we should all be in it together.
"I am not part of the decision to move to Level 5, I don't agree with it, but I am prepared to stand with the people in solidarity who must abide by it."
She added that she hopes to show solidarity with the people who have lost their jobs and are now on the PUP.
Ms Murphy said: "For me it's standing with the people I represent, that's why I became a politician, it wasn't for personal gain.
"I'm there to represent their voice and their issues and at the moment in Wexford, there are several thousand more people unemployed that would be in Level 3.
"The premise of which I first mentioned was that the people who are making decisions, the consequences are that people lose their jobs, should stand in solidarity and why can't they survive on the same level of payment?
"I have bills to pay and so do they, and they're going to have to do it based on the PUP that the government have in place.
"We can't go on in this situation forever and the idea would be for the government to come up with a plan that doesn't see us in lockdown and that doesn't see us losing employment, losing businesses.
"I did ask for justification of Level 5 but it hasn't been forthcoming.
"I'm what you would call a disrupter, I didn't go into politics for personal gain."
