Election Results

More than 10,000 sign on to pandemic unemployment payment in past week

ireland
More Than 10,000 Sign On To Pandemic Unemployment Payment In Past Week
Share this article

Digital Desk staff

There has been an increase of more than 10,000 people receiving the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) in the past week, following the introduction of new restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 in certain regions of the country.

The Department of Social Protection has issued payments valued at €61.9 million today which will be paid to 217,142 recipients tomorrow – up 10,801 on the number paid last week.

Over 19,000 people have applied for the payment in the past seven days, which the department said partly reflects “the effect of some areas having to be moved to Level Three of restrictions” under the Government’s Living with Covid-19 plan.

Advertisement

With greater restrictions being introduced in Dublin, it is not surprising to see the overall number of PUP recipients increase.

“With greater restrictions being introduced in Dublin, it is not surprising to see the overall number of PUP recipients increase,” Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said.

“The Government wanted to ensure that this safety net remained in place in the event that counties would face further restrictions. That’s why a decision was taken to extend PUP into next year and, more importantly, keep it open to new entrants.”

Work returns

The department said that the increase in this week’s figures “does not reflect the impact of Donegal moving to Level Three last Friday. It is expected that any such impact will be reflected in next week’s PUP figures.”

Advertisement

In the past seven days, 8,690 people have closed their claim for the payment, with 6,309 of this number reporting that they were returning to work.

The largest number of people returning to work is in the 35 to 44 group, followed by those aged 45 to 54.

The accommodation and food services sector has the highest number of people receiving a PUP payment this week, while education along with public administration and defence are the only sectors with a “slight fall” in payments this week.

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com