People who applied for the Government’s Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support Payment will start receiving payment from this Tuesday, it has been confirmed.
The emergency payment was introduced for people who were suddenly laid off as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
People who sent in forms last week can expect to get the payment in their bank accounts tomorrow.
Workers will receive a payment of €203 each week for up to six weeks under the scheme.
The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection received over 68,000 applications for the payment up to the end of last week. Up to 63,000 of those applications have been processed so far.
People who are already in receipt of social welfare will receive payments every two weeks, instead of weekly, to minimise the amount of time spent attending post offices and banks.
Meanwhile, the public is being warned to be aware of a scam relating to social welfare payments.
Some members of the public have received phone calls from individuals purporting to be from the Department and requesting their bank or financial institution account details. Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach, Elizabeth Canavan advised that customers will not get a phone call asking for their bank details from the government.