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Almost 348,300 people will receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week, and many will also receive a double payment that reflects the Christmas bonus.
That’s according to the latest figures from the Department of Social Protection.
The drop in the number of PUP applicants this week from 3,168 seems relatively low, considering the reopening of the economy and the lifting of Level 5 restrictions.
However, a total of 28,682 claimants closed their claims during the past seven days, and 25,350 stated that they were returning to work. That more significant drop will be reflected in the figures for next week.
Almost two-thirds of those who return to work are women.
The PUP unemployment figures do not include the 194,058 people reported in the Live Registry at the end of November.
This week’s standard PUP payments will cost € 102.67 million, up from € 103.65 million last week.
However, an additional 83.14 million euros are being disbursed to just over 283,000 recipients who are eligible for the single double payment of the Christmas bonus.
In total, 1.6 million social assistance recipients will receive bonus payments worth 390 million euros, which should reach most bank accounts tomorrow.
Typically, welfare recipients must have been unemployed for more than 12 months to qualify for the bonus.
However, this year on an exceptional basis, the bonus is paid to PUP recipients who have claimed the payment for at least 17 weeks (not necessarily continuously) since its launch, and have claimed it in the week between 27 November and December 3. .
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys highlighted the importance of Christmas for key sectors, saying: “It is heartwarming to see businesses reopen again in sectors that have been really affected by the pandemic: the likes of retail, accommodation, food services and beauty salons “.
He noted that between this week’s Christmas bonus and last week’s PUP arrears, the Department had paid more than € 500 million in aid.
“Once again, I am encouraging people to spend this money locally. In that way, it is helping their local economy and supporting small businesses,” the minister said.
He also reminded workers that PUP will remain open in March and will be available to anyone who returns to work only to find their employer forced to close again in the New Year.
“I encourage all workers who have the opportunity to return to work, just as we needed your support to suppress the virus, now we need it to reopen our economy,” he said.
The Department said that any employer having difficulty rehiring can contact the Department at [email protected], or [email protected].
The sectors with the highest number of people claiming PUPs continue to be Accommodation and Food Services Activities (101,335), Wholesale and Retail Trade (55,173) and Other Sectors, for example, hairdressers and beauty salons (31,008).
The main sectors in which employees closed their Pandemic Unemployment Pay to return to work are Wholesale and Retail Trade (7,298), Other Sectors, such as hairdressers and beauty salons (6,635), Accommodation and Food Service Activities (3,968) and Administrative and Support Service. Activities (1,077).
Dublin had the highest number of people closing their claims (6,441), followed by Cork (3,265), Galway (1,458), Kildare (1,244) and Wexford (1,019).
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