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Press release

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

Almost 330,000 receive Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week

An increase of 34,000 receiving PUP compared to last week

€95.5 million is paid out in PUP payments today

Quickest and easiest way to apply for PUP is online at www.MyWelfare.ie

Earnings Reference Period for employees extended to September 2020

This week, the Department of Social Protection has issued payments valued at €95.5m, up from €85.6 million last week, to 329,991 people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).

The number of people receiving a PUP payment this week represents an increase of 34,131 on the 295,860 people paid last week.

The sector with the highest number of people receiving a PUP payment this week is Accommodation and Food Service Activities (98,233). It is followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (51,921) and Other Sectors, for example, hairdressers and beauty salons (28,799).

This week’s figures are in addition to the 211,492 people who were reported on the Live Register as of the end of September. All COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payments issued will be in recipients’ bank accounts or at their local post office today, Tuesday 3 November.

Commenting on this week’s figures, Minister Humphreys said:

“The increase in the number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) was expected as a result of the move to Level 5 of restrictions.

“Supporting workers who have lost their job as a result of this pandemic remains my top priority. My department has processed and put into payment over 125,000 new applications for PUP in recent weeks.

“I would like to acknowledge the co-operation of the people who are claiming the PUP payment online. By applying online at www.MyWelfare.ie it makes the PUP application process much easier and results in the applications going into payment much faster.”

“The fall in the number of cases of COVID-19 in recent days is encouraging. This is a credit to the Irish people and the sacrifices they are making in responding to the public health advice."

PUP Payment Rates

PUP is paid at four rates. With effect from 16 October:

  • those with prior gross weekly earnings below €200 will continue to receive a rate of €203 per week
  • those with prior gross weekly earnings of €200 to €299.99 will continue to receive €250 per week
  • those with prior gross weekly earnings of €300 to €399.99 will continue to receive €300 per week
  • those with prior gross weekly earnings of €400 or more will receive a rate of €350 per week.

PUP is paid weekly in arrears with applications received up to close of business on Thursday in any week being processed for payment on the following Tuesday. Applications received after Thursday each week, are processed as part of the following week’s claims and paid in the next week after that.

Prior weekly earnings have been assessed in the case of employees, based on Revenue earnings data for 2019 and for January and February 2020. The average weekly pay for 2019 is calculated and the same is done for January and February 2020. The department then uses the calculation which gives the person the highest weekly rate of income from these reference periods as the basis for calculating their PUP entitlement.

In the case of self-employed people, earnings have been assessed based on the 2019 and 2018 earnings returns to Revenue with the higher figure being used to determine the payment rate.

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, DSP, Intreo Centre, Cork Road, Waterford
  • calling the Helpline at 1890 800 024 which is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday

New Reference Period

The Minister today brought a memorandum to Cabinet which extends the 2020 earnings reference period for employees to September 2020.

This will mean that people who only commenced employment after February 2020 but have now been laid-off due to increased restrictions can have their payment rate fixed by reference to their earnings in the period March to September 2020.

The regulations will also provide that people who may have been in employment before February 2020 but whose earnings have reduced in the period since February can still have their PUP payment rate set by reference to their earlier, higher, earnings.

As self-employment earnings are filed with Revenue on an annual basis the assessment of self-employed earnings will continue as before to be based on the best of a person’s 2018 or 2019 earnings. Any earnings a person may have received as an employee during 2019 will also be considered and added to their self-employment earnings for the purpose of setting the appropriate PUP payment rate.

Self-employed people can also continue to earn up to €480 (net) per month while in receipt of PUP, take up the Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme or avail of standard jobseeker payments.

People returning to work

In the past seven days, some 4,200 people closed their PUP, 2,460 of whom stated that they were doing so because they are 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 (PUP) on the actual date that they start back at work, in order to ensure that their claim is processed correctly.

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 largest cohort of people who closed their claims to return to work is in the 25-34 age group (649), followed by those aged 35-44 (603). Full details are available at Appendix 8.

Employment supports available for when people return to work

There are a range of supports for the self-employed who are receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and who are looking to restart their business. In order to reduce the risk of moving from the certainty of the PUP payment to the uncertainty of trading income, self-employed people on PUP, including those who work in the arts/entertainment industry, taxi drivers and others, can earn up to €480 per month, while retaining their full PUP entitlement.

In addition, the Part-Time Job Incentive scheme is available to self-employed people who come off PUP or a jobseeker’s payment. This scheme which allows a person to receive a partial jobseeker’s payment, while retaining employment income, may be particularly suited in circumstances where a self-employed person’s income exceeds the €480 per month income threshold on PUP.

Employees who satisfy the relevant criteria, may claim casual (that is, part-time) jobseeker’s payments or Short-Time Work Support payments for days of unemployment, even where their employer is claiming the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme for days of employment. The normal scheme rules and application processes for casual jobseeker payments and Short-Time Work Support apply, including completion of the relevant forms by the employer to certify days of employment and unemployment.

Applying for PUP

To apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, the easiest and quickest way is to do so online at www.MyWelfare.ie. When applying, people should provide the name of their employer and details of their last day of employment.

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.

COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit Payment

Since March, a cumulative total of 81,999 people under the age of 66 have been medically certified for receipt of the COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit. For 10,340 people the date of their first certificate was issued in October 2020, of which 1,556 have been certified for COVID-19.

Today, some 3,770 people are currently in receipt of an Enhanced Illness Benefit payment.

The number of people medically certified to receive the Enhanced Illness Benefit has increased in every county again this week, the greatest number being in Dublin (22,906), followed by Cork (8,885), Galway (4,987), Kildare (4,052) and Meath (3,252).

There has also been an increase in every sector affected by the COVID-19 virus again this week. The sectors with the greatest number of people medically certified for receipt of a COVID-19 Illness Benefit payment are Wholesale and Retail Trade (17,551) and Human Health and Social Work (15,397), followed by Manufacturing (11,301). Full details are at Appendices 9, 10 and 11.

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 - Enhanced Illness Benefit Payments by County
  • Appendix 10 - Enhanced Illness Benefit Payments by Sector
  • Appendix 11 - Enhanced Illness Benefit Payments Age Profile

Appendix 1 - Analysis of Pandemic Unemployment Payments

There are 329,991 people in receipt a Pandemic Unemployment Payment of which 166,280 are female and 163,711 are male.

County Breakdown

County Number of people in receipt of a Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 3 November Number of people in receipt of a Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 27 October Number of people in receipt of a Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 5 May
Carlow 3,481 3,082 7,800
Cavan 4,540 4,135 9,700
Clare 7,255 6,563 14,600
Cork 33,062 28,962 61,900
Donegal 11,673 10,950 22,700
Dublin 108,292 99,157 174,200
Galway 18,214 16,005 32,300
Kerry 12,965 11,426 22,200
Kildare 14,444 12,903 26,100
Kilkenny 5,272 4,653 10,600
Laois 4,334 3,751 8,600
Leitrim 1,939 1,703 4,100
Limerick 12,832 11,308 22,300
Longford 2,119 1,896 4,500
Louth 9,968 8,892 17,300
Mayo 8,642 7,474 16,400
Meath 12,439 11,225 25,000
Monaghan 3,832 3,577 8,200
Offaly 4,133 3,718 8,900
Roscommon 3,274 2,898 7,100
Sligo 4,038 3,590 7,700
Tipperary 8,832 7,772 18,800
Waterford 7,623 6,704 14,100
Westmeath 6,022 5,245 11,700
Wexford 9,932 8,575 20,500
Wicklow 10,022 8,895 18,700
County not included 812 801 2,000
Total 329,991 295,860 598,000

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 (98,233) followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade (51,921) and Other Sectors, for example, hairdressers and beauty salons (28,799).

Sector Breakdown

Industrial Sector Number of people in receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 3 November Number of people in receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 27 October Number of people in receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 5 May
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying 3,911 3,474 8,600
Manufacturing 14,764 13,487 37,400
Electricity, gas supply; Water supply, sewerage and waste management 1,065 955 2,100
Construction 19,823 18,193 79,300
Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles 51,921 43,432 90,300
Transportation and storage 8,759 8,182 17,900
Accommodation and food service activities 98,233 90,051 128,500
Information and communication activities 7,288 7,047 11,800
Financial and insurance activities 6,815 6,260 12,500
Real Estate activities 5,160 4,598 8,100
Professional, Scientific and Technical activities 12,745 11,858 24,800
Administrative and support service activities 27,714 25,656 45,800
Public Administration And Defence; Compulsory Social Security 5,174 4,728 14,400
Education 10,146 9,464 22,000
Human Health And Social Work activities 9,853 9,061 22,500
Arts, entertainment and recreation 11,376 10,069 14,200
Other Sectors (for example: hairdressers and beauty salons) 28,799 23,537 39,200
Unclassified or unknown 6,445 5,808 18,600
Total 329,991 295,860 598,000

Appendix 3 – Pandemic Unemployment Payment - Age Profile

Age category Number of people in receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 3 November Number of people in receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Payment on 27 October
< 25 83,500 74,479
25-34 75,646 68,111
35-44 71,489 64,109
45-54 56,723 50,802
55+ 42,633 38,359
Total 329,991 295,860

Appendix 4 – Pandemic Unemployment Payment Rates breakdown by gender

Gender Number of people in receipt of €350 on 3 November Number of people in receipt of €300 on 3 November Number of people in receipt of €250 on 3 November Number of people in receipt of €203 on 3 November
Male 81,459 26,426 25,150 30,676
Female 54,870 31,147 35,536 44,727
Total 136,329 57,573 60,686 75,403

Appendix 5 – Pandemic Unemployment Payment Rates breakdown by age

Age category Number of people in receipt of €350 on 3 November Number of people in receipt of €300 on 3 November Number of people in receipt of €250 on 3 November Number of people in receipt of €203 on 3 November
< 25 15,392 15,915 22,483 29,710
25-34 37,998 15,085 11,349 11,214
35-44 36,903 11,450 10,548 12,588
45-54 27,781 8,703 8,861 11,378
55+ 18,255 6,420 7,445 10,513
Total 136,329 57,573 60,686 75,403

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

Around 2,460 people who have closed their account for return to work since 25 October will receive a Pandemic Unemployment Payment tomorrow, 3 November. Of these 1,453 are male and 1,007 are female.

County Breakdown

County Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 3 November to return to work Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 27 October to return to work Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 20 October to return to work
Carlow 31 22 26
Cavan 49 33 40
Clare 52 29 59
Cork 273 212 257
Donegal 73 60 88
Dublin 761 569 766
Galway 141 92 141
Kerry 74 49 60
Kildare 128 74 102
Kilkenny 24 35 44
Laois 42 21 37
Leitrim 11 11 21
Limerick 81 88 121
Longford 22 19 21
Louth 68 59 92
Mayo 55 33 58
Meath 111 53 96
Monaghan 37 28 37
Offaly 37 34 49
Roscommon 32 18 31
Sligo 25 26 40
Tipperary 76 59 73
Waterford 55 40 62
Westmeath 45 47 47
Wexford 81 32 74
Wicklow 64 41 76
County not included 12 3 8
Total 2,460 1,787 2,526

Appendix 7 – Closed Pandemic Unemployment Payments - Sector Breakdown

The top three sectors from which employees closed their Pandemic Unemployment Payment in the week ending 3 November to return to work are Accommodation and Food Service Activities (491), Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles (362) and Construction (279).

Industrial Sector Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 3 November to return to work Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 27 October to return to work
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying 25 31
Manufacturing 234 145
Electricity, gas supply; Water supply, sewerage and waste management 4 9
Construction 279 137
Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles 362 295
Transportation and storage 91 98
Accommodation and food service activities 491 260
Information and communication activities 75 86
Financial and insurance activities 41 38
Real Estate activities 27 20
Professional, Scientific and Technical activities 143 115
Administrative and support service activities 276 205
Public Administration And Defence; Compulsory Social Security 45 43
Education 93 102
Human Health And Social Work activities 124 104
Arts, entertainment and recreation 42 47
Other Sectors 82 34
Unclassified or unknown 26 18
Total 2,460 1,787

Appendix 8 – Closed Pandemic Unemployment Payments to return to work – Age Profile

Age category Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 3 November to return to work Number of people who closed their PUP payment from 27 October to return to work
< 25 513 419
25-34 649 491
35-44 603 409
45-54 440 307
55+ 255 161
Total 2,460 1,787

Appendix 9 - Analysis of COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit

To date, 81,999 people have been medically certified for receipt of a COVID-19 related Illness Benefit payment, of whom 45,238 are female and 36,761 are male.

Some 3,770 people are currently in receipt of an Enhanced Illness Benefit payment.

For 10,340 people the date of their first certificate was issued in October 2020, of which 1,556 have been 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.

Certificate start date Number of people medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit
Before March 2020 151 (7)
March 2020 31,139 (1,008)
April 2020 14,469 (2,037)
May 2020 5,009 (772)
June 2020 1,472 (128)
July 2020 2,294 (155)
August 2020 5,718 (554)
September 2020 11,407 (1,076)
October 2020 10,340 (1,556)
Total 81,999 (7,293)

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

County Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 3 November Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 27 October Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 20 October
Carlow 1,144 1,108 1,042
Cavan 2,139 2,054 1,876
Clare 1,479 1,417 1,346
Cork 8,885 8,530 8,015
Donegal 2,315 2,205 2,031
Dublin 22,906 22,352 21,431
Galway 4,987 4,784 4,494
Kerry 1,929 1,857 1,749
Kildare 4,052 3,964 3,818
Kilkenny 1,669 1,622 1,546
Laois 1,375 1,336 1,288
Leitrim 365 351 328
Limerick 2,786 2,688 2,531
Longford 674 652 615
Louth 2,360 2,282 2,174
Mayo 1,860 1,783 1,701
Meath 3,252 3,092 2,831
Monaghan 1,525 1,466 1,376
Offaly 1,311 1,280 1,238
Roscommon 1,190 1,153 1,102
Sligo 760 715 642
Tipperary 2,953 2,864 2,730
Waterford 2,865 2,791 2,643
Westmeath 1,489 1,413 1,319
Wexford 2,812 2,684 2,464
Wicklow 2,467 2,400 2,307
Other (NI & Foreign Address) 450 413 378
Total 81,999 79,256 75,015

Appendix 10 – COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit - Sector Breakdown

The sectors with the highest number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of a COVID-19 Illness Benefit payment to date are Wholesale and Retail Trade (17,551) and Human Health and Social Work (15,397), followed by Manufacturing (11,301).

Sector Breakdown

Industrial Sector Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 3 November Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 27 October Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 20 October
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining and Quarrying 787 752 708
Manufacturing 11,301 10,941 10,413
Electricity, gas, steam supply; Water supply; Sewerage, waste management 405 392 370
Construction 3,616 3,443 3,168
Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and motorcycles 17,551 16,934 15,988
Transportation and storage 2,983 2,877 2,752
Accommodation and food service activities 4,942 4,697 4,316
Information and communication activities 1,348 1,308 1,247
Financial and insurance activities 3,011 2,942 2,812
Real Estate activities 661 635 599
Professional, Scientific and Technical activities 2,572 2,486 2,372
Administrative and support service activities 7,329 7,138 6,863
Public Administration And Defence; Compulsory Social Security 3,296 3,191 3,010
Education 2,117 2,012 1,811
Human Health And Social Work activities 15,397 15,034 14,460
Arts, entertainment and recreation 780 733 667
Other Sectors 2,834 2,751 2,572
Unclassified or unknown 1,069 990 887
Total 81,999 79,256 75,015

Appendix 11 – Enhanced Illness Benefit - Age Profile

Age category Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 3 November Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 27 October Number of people who have been medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to 20 October
< 25 12,060 11,363 10,333
25-34 20,282 19,639 18,604
35-44 22,717 22,059 21,085
45-54 16,366 15,882 15,108
55+ 10,574 10,313 9,885
Total 81,999 79,256 75,015

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