Update on payments awarded for COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Enhanced Illness Benefit - 28 July 2021
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
This week, the Department of Social Protection issued weekly payments valued at €56.92 million to 192,296 people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). This represents a decrease of over 9,800 on last week.
The number of PUP recipients has now fallen to below 200,000 for the first time.
And the number of recipients is at the lowest point since the scheme was first introduced in March 2020.
The largest reduction, of almost 3,000 was in the Accommodation and Food Services Sector, followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade and Construction with a reduction of over 1,400 and 900 respectively compared to last week.
The PUP figures published this week are in addition to the 175,281 people who were on the Live Register at the end of June. All COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payments have been paid into recipients’ bank accounts or at their post office on Tuesday, 27 July.
Commenting on this week’s specific PUP figures, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said:
“For the first time since its introduction, the number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment has fallen below the 200,000 mark.
“It also means that the number of PUP recipients is now at its lowest level since the payment was introduced as an emergency measure in March 2020.
“To put this into context, there were over 481,000 people relying on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in early February of this year – the last time the virus reached a peak.
“That number has now fallen by around 60% - clearly demonstrating the progress we are making in reopening our economy and getting our citizens back to work.”
Minister Humphreys added:
“As indoor hospitality reopens safely, I expect the number of people receiving PUP to fall further in the coming weeks as they return to the workplace.
“I want to take this opportunity to pay particular tribute to businesses in the hospitality sector, who are reopening their doors for indoor dining.
“This has been an extremely difficult few months for this sector. That’s why Government has maintained the range of supports in place for businesses and their employees.”
Minister Humphreys concluded:
“Our Pathways to Work Strategy is now being rolled out at pace - providing supports to enable people to get back working again.
“As new jobs are created, we want to ensure that people who are currently unemployed have the training, skills and most importantly the confidence to take on these new roles.
“My department’s Intreo Centres will play a crucial role in ensuring the rollout of this service.”
Further details on the trends are set out in the Appendices.
Looking at the age cohort as set out in Appendix 3, the greatest decrease continues to be in the under 25 age group with 39,144 receiving PUP compared with 42,308 last week.
Dublin continues to be the county with the highest number of people who are receiving PUP this week at 71,981. It is followed by Cork (17,053) and Galway (10,159).
The sector with the highest number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is Accommodation and Food Service Activities (44,678) followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (29,440) and Administrative and support service activities (21,457).
The payment week for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment runs from Friday to Thursday and payments are paid on the following Tuesday. Individuals who have closed their PUP by Monday 26 July, as they have returned to work, will receive their final PUP payment on Tuesday 3 August.
The department continues to remind workers who are returning to work that they must close their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment on the actual date that they start back at work, in order to ensure that their claim is processed correctly and to avoid incurring an overpayment that the department will take steps to recover.
As PUP is paid weekly in arrears 3,770 people who have closed their claim are receiving a final payment this week and are still counted in the numbers in payment for this week.
The top three sectors from which employees closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment to return to work are Accommodation and food service activities (1,643), Wholesale and Retail Trade (785), and Construction (548).
Some 1,526 under 25 year olds closed their claim in the past seven days to return to work, compared with 3,038 the previous week.
The easiest way to close a claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is online via www.MyWelfare.ie. Any worker returning to work with an enquiry about closing their claim can contact the department’s dedicated Income Support Helpline at 1890 800 024 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
The department conducts a series of pre and post payment checks on all PUP claims which include continuing eligibility checks. Subject to these checks being cleared the department then processes payments based on the clients’ self-declaration.
The department runs post payment checks that includes verifying data against Revenue records, examining cases where the same bank account is used multiple times, examining cases where an employer or members of the public report concerns, and the use of data analytics to identify and check claims. It also undertakes employer inspections.
This work is undertaken by the department’s Special Investigation Unit, which includes over 20 Gardaí on secondment to the department.
As business reopens the department’s inspectors continue to conduct control reviews and matching records against employer payroll data from the Revenue Commissioners to help ensure people close their claim as they return to work. To avoid incurring an overpayment people returning to work should close their claim and can do so easily at www.MyWelfare.ie.
Similar to earlier this year and last year the department contacted PUP recipients asking them to confirm their eligibility to continue to receive payment by Tuesday, 27 July. Failure to confirm continued eligibility may result in the PUP payment being stopped.
Self-employed people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) who are looking to maintain their business can earn up to €960 over an eight-week period, while retaining their full PUP entitlement.
There is no formal application process and a self-employed person simply needs to inform the department if they earn over €960 in any eight-week period.
The €1,000 Enterprise Support Grant will remain in place for the rest of the year for self-employed people who close their PUP payment. Those who claimed the grant in 2020 but who found themselves back on PUP in 2021, will be able to access the grant for a second time.
The easiest and quickest way to apply for many social welfare payments, including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, Enhanced Illness Benefit and Jobseekers’ payments is online at www.MyWelfare.ie. This is a platform which is safe, secure and accessible anytime, anywhere and on all devices. People have the option of applying for Maternity Benefit, Paternity Benefit, Child Benefit, PRSI refunds and Jobseekers’ payments as well as requesting a statement or a record of social insurance contributions from the department.
The application service to apply for a PPS Number is available at www.MyWelfare.ie for people living in Ireland who are at least 18 years of age and need a PPS Number to avail of social welfare benefits, public services and information in Ireland. To apply for a PPS Number online, a person will need to have a basic MyGovID account.
In the interests of the public health advice and observing social distancing people are asked, if possible, not to attend their local Intreo Centre. Instead, they should avail of the online services available through www.MyWelfare.ie.
Employees or self-employed people who contract the virus or who are medically certified by their doctor to self-isolate are advised to apply for Enhanced Illness Benefit. Unlike the standard Illness Benefit, the Enhanced Illness Benefit is paid from the first day of illness. The quickest and easiest way to apply for Enhanced Illness Benefit is through www.MyWelfare.ie.
Today, some 1,642 people are in receipt of an Enhanced Illness Benefit payment, compared with 1,435 last week.
Full details on Enhanced Illness Benefit including sector and county breakdown as well as age profile are at Appendices 9, 10 and 11.
Customers and members of the public are reminded about scam phone calls and text messages they may receive from individuals claiming to be an official of the department. These calls and texts display a range of numbers, including some which may appear to be from the department’s phone numbers. The department would like to remind all its customers that it will never seek personal information from customers via text message and will never ask a customer for their bank details over the phone.
Any person who receives such a call or text is asked not to disclose any information and to report it to the Gardaí immediately.