IN THE last week, there was a further drop, of 1,000 people, in Donegal receiving a Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).
There are now 9,000 people in Donegal receiving a PUP, down from 10,000 last week and a fall from 22,700 at the height of the payments in May.
In the past week, some 19,200 people across the country closed their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment of which 14,500 reported that they were returning to work – with 600 of those in Donegal.
Of those 14,500 returning to work, some 8,800 are receiving their last payment this week. As the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is a weekly payment paid in arrears, there can be a one week lag in how closures, due to people returning to work, are reflected in the payment data.
The reduction in the number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will, therefore, be reflected in next week’s figures.
The top three sectors in which employees are returning to work this week are Accommodation and Food Services (4,400); Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles (1,800); and Construction (1,300). A full breakdown of the sectors in this area is set out at Appendix 7 below.
Today, the Department of Social Protection issued payments valued at €88.9m to 286,900 people for the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). This represents a decrease of 26,900 on the 313,800 people paid last week and a 52 per cent drop on the 598,000 paid at its peak on 5th May.
In the past seven days, 19,200 people have closed their claim for a Pandemic Unemployment Payment. Some 8,800 will be receiving their final payment tomorrow, 28th July.
The top three sectors in which employees are returning to work this week are Accommodation and Food Services; Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles; and Construction.
The largest cohort returning to work is aged under 25 years.
Minister for Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Heather Humphreys, TD today said: “I am particularly pleased to see that numbers of people who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 health crisis are continuing fall as people are going back to work.
“|This bodes well for our economy and for our communities across the country.
“Just under 287,000 workers will be receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment tomorrow which is a 52 per cent drop on the number of people receiving the payment on 5th May when it was at its peak.
“I am confident that many more businesses will reopen in the weeks and months ahead as they avail of the most recent Government supports announced in the July Stimulus package.
“It is very encouraging to see that the numbers of people claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment are down in every county. It is very promising to see that the numbers for Dublin have fallen below 100,000 this week at 97,800, which compares to the 174,200 when the figure was at its peak on 5th May.”
As well as those availing of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, there are now over 68,400 employers who have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). An estimated 400,000 employees are currently being supported by the scheme having received a subsidy in their most recent pay period.
The above payments are in addition to the 220,900 people who were reported on the Live Register as of the end of June. All Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payments issued will be in recipients’ bank accounts or at their local post office tomorrow, Tuesday, 28th July.
This is the fourth week of the two-tiered payment structure for people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
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.
This equates to the standard jobseeker rate of payment and as it is higher than the person’s prior earnings will still mean that people, who receive €203 per week, are in receipt of a higher income than they had prior to being laid-off due to Covid-19.
Employees with average earnings of €200 or more a week will continue to receive €350 Pandemic Unemployment Payment with almost 3 in 4 recipients continuing to receive €350 per week.
The payment to self-employed people has been assessed based on their 2018 returns to the Revenue Commissioners (Returns for 2019 are not due until later in 2020).
Some 78,000 people will receive the €203 rate of payment this week which is 9,500 fewer, than last week. The majority of people – 208,900 – will continue to receive the €350 rate of payment, which is 17,400 fewer than last week.
