The number of people on the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment has dropped further in Donegal after the commencement of Phase 3 of the reopening roadmap.
Last week saw the highest number of people returning to work in single week since the crisis began.
In Donegal, 2,700 people closed their payment claims from 7th July and 900 closed their accounts from 30th June.
14,700 Donegal workers will receive the payment this week. At its height, there were a total of 22,700 people in the county receiving the Pandemic Unemployment payment.
The two-tiered payment structure for people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment takes effect from Tuesday. A quarter of all payments will be reduced under the system.
Employees whose average weekly earnings in 2019 or January and February 2020 (whichever is the higher) were less than €200 gross will receive a weekly Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €203 a week.
Employees with average earnings of €200 or more a week will continue to receive €350 Pandemic Unemployment Payment. 3 in 4 recipients (75%) will continue to receive €350 per week.
In the past week, some 63,000 people nationwide closed their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment of which 54,300 reported that they were returning to work.
The top three sectors in which employees are returning to work this week are Accommodation and Food Services, Other Sectors e.g. hairdressers, barbers and Wholesale and Retail Trade.
1,200 people in Donegal remain on the Enhanced Illness Benefit.
