More than a million people now receive state income support



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More than a million people are receiving some form of state aid, said Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty.

The Department issued pandemic default payments to 584,000 people on Monday. Around 50,000 people receive a payment for the first time.

These payments add to the 212,000 people on the live registry and more than 46,000 employers have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme.

Speaking on Monday, Doherty described the situation as “unparalleled in our nation’s history.”

“Between our Covid-19 unemployment payment, those on the live registry and workers who benefit from the wage subsidy scheme, more than a million people receive some form of state income support, a situation unparalleled in the history of our nation.

“This is a temporary health emergency and many sectors of the economy will be able to reignite relatively quickly once the danger has passed.

“However, some sectors will take longer to recover than others and we will also have a challenge with youth employment, as many young people who might have expected to have entered an optimistic job market will now face a much more complex environment.

“Understanding this, my Department is already planning the post-pandemic environment and considering the best measures to help each worker return to the workforce as quickly as possible.”

Personal protection equipment

Meanwhile, the public has been warned about companies selling face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) online with claims that it has been donated to hospitals and meets healthcare standards.

The issue had been brought up by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (JPAC), where vendors advertise PPE online as a hospital standard without “any basis,” Liz Canavan, assistant secretary-general of the Taoiseach Department said Monday.

“Some online merchants appear to be informing consumers that the personal protection products they sell have been donated to hospitals and other healthcare providers, in many cases it is unclear whether these donated products are suitable for healthcare settings,” he said at a daily press conference. .

“When you walk in to see these products, there is a claim that they are being used in hospitals or donated to hospitals to give them a quality badge, but there is no basis for it,” he said.

Some 584,000 people have claimed weekly unemployment payments for a pandemic of € 350, an increase of more than 50,000 people compared to the same period last week, the report was heard.

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