News

The number of people that are claiming Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) in Ireland has fallen to just over 267,000. This is a decrease of around 18,000 over the last week.

Aligning with the reopening of different sectors of the economy, the drops in claims continue to fall – with 24,000 people closing their PUP accounts to return to work in the last week.

This week, a total of €78.9 million has been paid out and overall, over €8 billion has been funded in PUP to this date.

It appears that the sector with the highest number of people still receiving payment this week is the food service and accommodation sector with 77,380 accounts still open. This is followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade and Administrative and Support Service Activities.

Despite this, the hospitality sector has still seen the largest drop, with a decrease of 7,407 accounts compared to last week.

The latest figures also show that Dublin has the highest number of people receiving PUP this week at 93,036 accounts, shortly followed by Cork and then Galway.

When can you receive PUP until?

The Department is reminding those who are returning to work to close their claim for the PUP on the actual date that they return to work. This is to ensure that their claim is processed correctly and will avoid incurring an overpayment that the Department will take steps to recover.

What if you are self-employed?

Self-employed people who are looking to maintain their business can still earn up to €960 over eight weeks while retaining their full PUP payment.

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.

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We focus on ways to ensure your company’s profitability today while planning for sustainable business growth. For more help or advice on related matters, please contact us today.