Numbers receiving Covid-19 unemployment payment rises to 598,000

There are now 598,000 people receiving the special Covid-19 unemployment payment - an increase of about 7,000 in the last week, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection said on Tuesday.

The department said this was on top of about 205,000 people on the live register who were receiving job seeker benefit.

In addition workers in 52,000 companies or businesses are having their pay funded in full or in part under the Government’s temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme.

It is understood that about 427,000 workers who have received at least one subsidised payment.

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This means there are about 1.23 million workers relying on State support for all or part of their income.

The Department of Employment Affairs said about 11,000 people are receiving the special €350 Covid-19 unemployment payment for the first time this week.

Other people are likely to have come off the scheme in the meantime.

The department said that since it was established in mid March, over 73,000 people had contacted it to close their Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment.

It said many of these requests were because employers had taken the workers concerned back onto their payroll under the Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme

It said overall this week it would pay out over €209 million in Covid-19 unemployment payment to 598,000 people.

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty said: "The Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment was introduced at speed for maximum impact so that we could help as many people as possible during what is an unprecedented, once in a century, health emergency.

“The fact that so many have been moved into payment so quickly is a testimony to the agility and innovation my department has demonstrated to respond to this crisis.

“We need to respond to the post-pandemic challenge with the same qualities and with a similar impact. Already, on Saturday, the Government announced a suite of measures to further support small, medium and larger businesses to restart, reconnect and rehire staff who have been laid off or furloughed.”

However, Ms Doherty said that some sectors, particularly retail and hospitality - had suffered more than most.

She said Government officials were “now planning the necessary further supports and initiatives we will need to put in place to ensure that the thousands of workers who have been displaced can return to work as quickly as possible”.

“ We are determined that this short term health crisis will not be a long-term economic one for all those workers and families who have been affected.”