Update on payments awarded for COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Enhanced Illness Benefit

274,600 receive Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week – down 12,300 compared to last week

Overall numbers have dropped 54% since peak on 5 May

€85.2 million to be paid in PUP payments today

Total Amount paid under PUP now over €3 billion

Today the Department of Social Protection is making payments valued at €85.2 million to 274,600 people for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). This represents a decrease of 12,300 on the 286,900 people paid last week and a 54% drop on the 598,000 paid at its peak on 5 May.

In the past seven days, 11,200 people have closed their claim for a Pandemic Unemployment Payment. Some 5,300 will be receiving their final payment today, 4 August.

The top three sectors in which employees are returning to work this week are Accommodation and Food Services; Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles; and Construction.

Again this week, the largest cohort returning to work is aged under 25 years.

Minister for Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Heather Humphreys, TD, said:

As well as those availing of the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, there are now over 69,470 employers who have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). An estimated 390,000 employees are currently being supported by the scheme having received a subsidy in their most recent pay period.

The above payments are in addition to the 220,900 people who were reported on the Live Register as of the end of June. All COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payments issued will be in recipients’ bank accounts or at their local post office today, Tuesday 4 August.

Payment Rates

Employees whose average weekly earnings in 2019 or January and February 2020 (whichever is the higher) were less than €200 gross will receive a weekly Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €203 a week. This equates to the standard jobseeker rate of payment and as it is higher than the person’s prior earnings will still mean that people, who receive €203 per week, are in receipt of a higher income than they had prior to being laid-off due to COVID-19.

Employees with average earnings of €200 or more a week will continue to receive €350 Pandemic Unemployment Payment with almost 3 in 4 recipients continuing to receive €350 per week.

Some 74,200 people will receive the €203 rate of payment this week which is 3,800 less than last week. The majority of people – 200,400 - will continue to receive the €350 rate of payment, which is 8,500 less than last week.

Any person, including any self-employed person, who believes that their new payment rate does not accurately reflect their prior earnings can contact the department to request a review of earnings and forward all supporting documents, which will be matched with Revenue records.

They can contact the department by:

• emailing PUPRerate@welfare.ie
• writing to Pandemic Unemployment Rerate Requests, DEASP, Intreo Centre, Cork Road, Waterford
• calling 1890 800 024

Payments to self-employed people have been assessed, in the first instance, based on their 2018 returns to the Revenue Commissioners (Returns for 2019 are not due until later in 2020). However, if a person has submitted their 2019 returns to Revenue and they consider that these are more beneficial, they can request a review of their PUP rate of payment from the department. The department will examine each case using the updated 2019 Revenue tax information and if the person has average earnings of €200 or more their payment will be increased to the higher rate of €350 per week.

The department will process applications for review as quickly as possible.

People returning to work

In the past week, some 11,200 people closed their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment of which 8,300 reported that they were returning to work. Of those 8,300 returning to work, some 5,300 are receiving their last payment this week. As the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is a weekly payment paid in arrears, there can be a one week lag in how closures, due to people returning to work, are reflected in the payment data. The reduction in the number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will, therefore, be reflected in next week’s figures.

The top three sectors in which employees are returning to work this week are Accommodation and Food Services (2,600); Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles (1,100); and Construction (700). A full breakdown of the sectors in this area is set out at Appendix 7 below.

Looking at the age profile of employees returning to work this week, the largest cohort are those under age 25 with 2,100 returning to employment, followed by those employees aged 25-34 and 35-44 with 1,900 returning in each of these age cohorts and 1,400 aged 45-54 also returning to work. Full details are available at Appendix 8.

The number of Pandemic Unemployment Payment recipients who closed their claim since the start of Phase 1 (18 May) and who are currently availing of the Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) has increased to 96,900 compared to 84,300 this time last week, the biggest increase being in the Accommodation and Food Services sector.

The department continues to remind workers who are returning to work that they must close their claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).

In order to ensure that their claim is processed correctly, workers who are returning to work must close their claim for the PUP payment on the actual date that they start back at work. Since the commencement of Phase One of the government’s Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, over 280,600 employees have closed their claims and returned to work.

The easiest way to close a claim for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is online via 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 (Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm).

Industries that remain closed

Where, due to ongoing restrictions, a person’s employer has not restarted operations or where a sector is still temporarily closed the department will continue to support the workers concerned through payment of the PUP.

Referring to people whose sectors are still subject to the restrictions based on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team, Minister Humphreys stated:

COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment Checks

As is the case, for all social welfare schemes and as part of the department’s normal work, the department conducts a series of pre and post payment checks for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, including:

• integrity checks made against records already held by the department including Public Service Information data and cross checks with payments on other schemes. These help to verify if a person is who they claim to be and that they are entitled to claim payment
• a reconciliation process between the department’s payment file and Revenue’s payment file for the Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme
• a prior employment status check by comparing all claims for PUP against prior earnings and employment records from Revenue data
• as with other welfare schemes, the department contacts recipients to ensure that they continue to satisfy the eligibility criteria of the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment. At the start of July the department required all PUP recipients to confirm their eligibility in order to continue to receive the payment and issued several reminders to customers. The department is currently collating the results of this process
• data analytics

Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme

There are now over 69,470 employers who have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). Workers whose employers have registered them on the scheme are not eligible to receive a Pandemic Unemployment Payment. In addition workers who were in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment but who have now been registered by their employers on the TWSS are no longer eligible to receive a Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit Payment

Since the beginning of July, 93 people have been medically certified with having COVID-19 while 1,307 others have been medically certified because they are medically self-isolating.

To date 53,500 people under age 66 have been medically certified for receipt of the COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit. Just over 7% (3,995) have been diagnosed with COVID-19 while almost 93% (49,505) were required to medically self-isolate.

The sector with the highest number of employees medically certified to receive COVID-19 Illness Benefit continues to be the Human Health and Social Work sector (11,800) followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (11,400) and Manufacturing (7,300). Full details are at Appendices 11, 12 and 13.

MyWelfare

The department wishes to thank its customers for submitting the majority of applications through our online portal MyWelfare.ie.

This is the quickest and easiest way to submit an application or close a COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

In the interests of the public health advice and observing social distancing people are asked, if at all possible not to attend their local Intreo Centre. Instead, they should avail of the online services available through MyWelfare.ie.

ENDS

Appendices

• Appendix 1 - Analysis of Pandemic Unemployment Payments by County
• Appendix 2 - Pandemic Unemployment Payments by Sector
• Appendix 3 - Pandemic Unemployment Payments by Age Profile
• Appendix 4 - Pandemic Unemployment Payment Rates by gender
• Appendix 5 - Pandemic Unemployment Payment Rates by age
• Appendix 6 - Analysis of People who Closed their PUP Claim to Return to Work
• Appendix 7 - Analysis of Closed Pandemic Unemployment Payments by Sector
• Appendix 8 - Analysis of Closed Pandemic Unemployment Payments Age Profile
• Appendix 9 - Analysis of Pandemic Unemployment Payments recipients who closed their claim since start of Phase 1 and who are currently receiving the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme Sector breakdown
• Appendix 10 – Age Profile of people who closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment to return to work since 18th May and receiving Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme
• Appendix 11 - Enhanced Illness Benefit Payments by County
• Appendix 12 - Enhanced Illness Benefit Payments by Sector
• Appendix 13 - Enhanced Illness Benefit Payments Age Profile

Appendix 1 - Analysis of Pandemic Unemployment Payments

This week a total of 274,000 people are in receipt of a Pandemic Unemployment Payment, of which 128,300 are female and 145,700 are male. Numbers contained in all appendices are rounded to the nearest hundred.

County Breakdown

Appendix 2 – Pandemic Unemployment Payments - Sector Breakdown

The sector with the highest number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is Accommodation and Food Service Activities (59,200), followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (38,800) and Administrative and Support Service activities (27,200).

The largest weekly drop was in Accommodation and Food Service activities (4,500) followed by Construction (1,300) and Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (1,200).

Sector Breakdown

Appendix 3 – Pandemic Unemployment Payment - Age Profile

Appendix 4 – Pandemic Unemployment Payment Rates breakdown by gender

There are 74,200 people receiving €203 this week, while the remainder (200,400) are receiving a payment of €350.

Appendix 5 – Pandemic Unemployment Payment Rates breakdown by age

Appendix 6 – Analysis of Closed PUP payments to return to Work

Around 8,300 people who have closed their account for return to work reasons since 25 July will receive a Pandemic Unemployment Payment today, 4 August. Of these, 4,300 are male and 4,000 are female.

County Breakdown

Appendix 7 – Closed Pandemic Unemployment Payments - Sector Breakdown

The top three sectors from which employees closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment in the week ending 4 August are Accommodation and Food Service Activities (2,600); Wholesale and Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles (1,100) and Construction (700).

Appendix 8 – Closed Pandemic Unemployment Payments – Age Profile

Appendix 9 - Analysis of Pandemic Unemployment Payments Recipients who closed their claim since start of Phase 1 and who are currently receiving the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) - Sector Breakdown

Since the start of Phase 1 on 18 May, 96,900 people have closed their claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for reasons of returning to work and are currently being subsidised by the government's Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). Of this total 49,700 are female and 47,200 are male.

Sector Breakdown

The top three sectors from which people closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment who are currently receiving the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme are Accommodation and Food Service Activities (35,100); Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles (18,700) and Construction (10,400). Details follow.

Appendix 10 - Age Profile of people who closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment to return to work since 18 May and receiving TWSS

Appendix 11 - Analysis of COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit

There are 53,500 people medically certified for receipt of a COVID-19 related Illness Benefit payment, of whom 29,900 are female and 23,600 are male.

For 1,400 of these, the date of their first certificate was issued in July 2020, of which 93 were certified for COVID-19.

The following Table shows the number of people medically certified for meeting the conditions for receipt of a COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit payment, by start date entered on the medical certificate.

The number of people medically certified with having COVID-19 is given in brackets and is included in the weekly overall figure shown.

County Breakdown (based on the county recorded on the Illness Benefit certificate)

Appendix 12 – COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit - Sector Breakdown

The sector with the highest number of people medically certified for receipt of a COVID-19 Illness Benefit payment is Human Health and Social Work (11,800), followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (11,400) and Manufacturing (7,300).

Appendix 13 – Enhanced Illness Benefit - Age Profile