Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 May 2022
274. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons nationally who transferred from the pandemic unemployment payment to unemployment allowance benefit when the payment ceased. [23974/22]
View answerThe COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) was introduced in response to the unprecedented disruption to the labour market caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Over the course of the pandemic, over 880,000 individuals received support under the scheme.
Following the full lifting of public health restrictions earlier this year, the scheme has now been wound down. The phased closure of the PUP, which was initiated in October 2021, concluded at the end of March this year.
Following the final PUP on March 29th, the transition process to jobseeker terms for eligible PUP recipients commenced, with the first jobseeker's payments paid on 5 April.
As of the week of 3 April, there were some 33,400 people in receipt of a jobseeker's payment on the Live Register who had transitioned and were in receipt of a PUP within 31 days of their Live Register claim opening. In this regard, some 22,000 PUP recipients transferred to full jobseeker terms over the weekend of 26 / 27 March 2022.
Of the total 33,400, some 7,400 were in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance and 26,000 were in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit.
My Department is actively working to assist and support all those individuals that transitioned from the PUP to standard jobseeker terms back into employment.
