Payments under the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) will continue beyond their original end date in June, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed.
The payment, which provides €350/week for employees and the self-employed who have lost their income and are fully unemployed due to the pandemic, was originally supposed to come to an end in early or mid-June.
However, speaking in the Dáil last Thursday, May 7, the Taoiseach confirmed that payments will continue to be made under the PUP beyond this date.
It will need to continue, at least until people have the opportunity to return to their jobs, and for the vast majority that won’t be possible before mid-June.
“So yes, it will need to be extended beyond mid-June,” the Taoiseach told the Dáil.
Today, Monday, May 11, the latest data on the PUP – including the sector-by-sector breakdown of payments – was released by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
These figures show that, in the agriculture; forestry and fishing; and mining and quarrying group of sectors, some 8,600 people are in receipt of the payment. This figure is unchanged since the last occasion this data was issued – last Tuesday, May 5.
This group of sectors had the third-lowest number of individuals in receipt of the PUP. The only sectors with lower levels of individuals in receipt of the payments are: the electricity; gas supply; water supply; sewage and waste management sectors (2,000 people); and the real estate activities sector (8,100 people).
The sectors with most people in receipt of the payment are: the accommodation and food service sector (125,700); the wholesale; retail; and repair of more vehicles sectors (88,400); and the construction sector (78,100).