Number of people receiving PUP falls more than 29,000

The numbers of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment (PUP) this week has fallen by a further 29,174 to 333,993.

In total €102m will be paid out to recipients of the PUP.

This is on top of the further 177,969 who were on the Live Register at the end of April, the Department of Social Protection said.

25,824 people closed their PUP claim in the last week because they were returning to work.

Of these, the sector with the greatest number of claimants going back to employment were wholesale and retail trade and other sectors, which includes hairdressers and beauty salons.

Accommodation and food service is the sector with the highest number of recipients this week, followed by wholesale and retail trade.

The biggest overall reduction in claimants came from the “other sectors” category.

It is down by 11,708 claims on last week, the department said.

Dublin remains the county with the largest number of PUP recipients, followed by other next largest cities of Cork and Galway.

The department also said 1,389 people are in receipt of an Enhanced Illness Benefit payment, compared with 1,558 last week.

“The figures that I am publishing today include the largest number of people to close their claim in a single week since the year began,” said Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys.

“We are also seeing reductions in the number of people receiving the PUP in every county and across all occupations.

“These are all really positive signs and reflect the impact of sectors such as retail re-opening in full.”

Article Source – Number of people receiving PUP falls more than 29,000 – RTE – Will Goodbody

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000