Good News: Over 1,600 people off the Donegal Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) since the start of June

The reopening of many Donegal businesses at the beginning of the month has seen a dramatic decrease of over 1,600 in the weekly numbers receiving the weekly pandemic unemployment benefit (PUP) in the county.

Over the past week the numbers have been reduced from 9,954 to 9,121 - a reduction of 833 people in receipt of the emergency payment.

The figure at the start of June was 10,796, signalling a reduction so far this month of 1,675 people who had been receiving the payment as of June 1, 2021.  

The sector with the highest number of people receiving PUP this week is in the Accommodation and Food Service sector, but this should improve to a much greater degree in the weeks ahead and as result of the return of more indoor services and the likes of Communions, Confirmations and Baptisms.  

The PUP will remain open to new entrants up to June 30, 2021.

From July 1, 2021, PUP will be closed to new applications and individuals who lose their employment from July 1, should apply for a jobseeker’s payment or another welfare payment.

To give an indication of how far the county has come back to some level of normality, at the height of the pandemic last summer, 22,594 people in Donegal were in receipt of the payment back in May 2020. 

From 19 July 2021, Ireland plans to operate the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) for travel originating within the EU and EEA. These plans are subject to the public health advice on that date.

National outlook

This week, the Department of Social Protection has issued weekly payments valued at €78.9 million to 267,371 people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). 

This represents a decrease of 17,894 people compared to last week.

To date, including this week’s payments, the Department has paid out over €8 billion in PUP.

The figures published this wee are in addition to the 171,699 people who were on the Live Register at the end of May. 

Dublin is the county with the highest number of people who are receiving PUP this week at 93,036. It is followed by Cork (25,242) and Galway (14,683).

The sector with the highest number of people receiving PUP this week is Accommodation and Food Service activities (77,380), followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (39,192) and Administrative and Support Service Activities (26,289).

The sector, which has seen the largest decrease in the number of people receiving PUP this week is Accommodation and Food Service activities with 7,407 fewer people receiving the payment compared to last week.  This is followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade with 2,503 fewer people receiving the payment compared to last week. 

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 on Monday 14th June, as they have returned to work, will receive their final PUP payment on Tuesday 22nd June.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said:

“This week, we have seen another fall in the number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment as we continue to make progress in re-opening our economy and suppressing the virus.

“In fact, there are now over 214,000 fewer people being supported by the PUP compared to the second week of February.

“Over the past seven days alone, almost 24,000 people closed their PUP claims in order to return to work.

“Therefore, we are expecting further falls in the overall PUP numbers in the weeks ahead.

The Minister added: 

“I would like to acknowledge the huge efforts being made by employers as they re-open, many through reconfiguring their business to accommodate their customers and staff and ensuring safety is paramount at all times. 

“I would ask people to support their local economy, as well as the likes of our hotels, B&Bs and other businesses in our hospitality sector. 

“Day in and day out, we are continuing to make significant progress in relation to our vaccination programme.

“Let’s keep our guard up, continue to work from home where possible and continue to maintain social distancing guidelines.

“Due to the efforts that people are making, we have real ground for optimism in relation to the summer months ahead.”

People returning to work 

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 17,875 of these people are receiving a final payment this week and are still counted in the numbers in payment for this week.

The sectors with the largest number of employees closing their Pandemic Unemployment Payment claims to return to work are Accommodation and Food Service activities sector (11,919), Wholesale and Retail Trade (2,255), and Construction (1,943). 

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.