Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2021
82. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who have indicated their intention to withdraw from Covid-19 support payments and return to work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26153/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis question relates to the extent to which the Minister has information derived from the contact she has received from employers and employees. What is the extent to which those who have contacted, or have been contacted, have an indication of work available to them when they are ready to go back? I have two questions on the same subject. I am sorry about that.
I will answer the first question and then come back to the Deputy on the second. The Deputy has two questions. The first question is on the number of people who have indicated their intention to withdraw from Covid-19 support payments.
The pandemic unemployment payment has proven to be a vital income support to workers, thousands of whom lost their jobs virtually overnight. Since its introduction, over 23 million PUP payments have been made to in excess of 850,000 people, providing income support of more than €7.5 billion to date. The number of people in receipt of the PUP fluctuates in response to changes in the level of public health restrictions. Numbers peaked at over 600,000 on 5 May 2020 and stood at just over 200,000 in October 2020. Following the introduction of level 5 restrictions at Christmas 2020, the numbers increased again and stood at just over 481,000 on 9 February. Since then, and in line with the resumption of economic activity, numbers have steadily declined, with just under 377,000 people paid on 11 May. That is a reduction of over 104,000 claims. That reduction increased to 120,000 this week.
Since the introduction of the PUP, over 643,000 claims have been closed, in the vast majority of cases because people went back to work. Since the start of April, almost 85,000 people have closed their claims to return to work. This is a very positive development and reflects the start of the recovery phase from this pandemic. As the country begins to move out of level 5 restrictions, I remind workers who are returning to work that they must close their claim for the pandemic unemployment payment on the actual date that they start back at work, in order to ensure that their claim is processed correctly and to avoid incurring an overpayment that my Department will subsequently take steps to recover. The easiest way to close a claim for the pandemic unemployment payment is online via mywelfare.ie. Anyone returning to work with an inquiry about closing a claim can contact the Department’s dedicated income support helpline at 1890 800 024 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
I thank the Minister for her reply. Can any indication be gleaned from the information available as to which sectors show the most likely signs of recovering in the earliest stages, be it agrifood, retail or transport? In order to ensure continuity of payment, with the phasing out of one payment and its replacement with employment, at this stage people need to know where they are heading in a fortnight, three weeks’ time or whenever.
Sometimes there is an impression that people are not going back to work. As far as I am concerned, people want to go back to work. The quicker they can go back, the better. The sooner the restrictions are lifted, which is happening now, the better. There are many people who will only be too pleased to take up employment.
The number of people in receipt of payments has come down. The sector with the highest number of people in receipt of PUP is the accommodation and food service activities sector, which has 98,000 claims. This is followed by the wholesale and retail sector, which has 62,000 claims, and the construction sector, which has 34,663 claims. The pandemic unemployment payment is paid a week in arrears. The people in retail who went back to work yesterday will not be reflected in those figures until next week because that is when their payment will stop.
The figures for the different sectors include manufacturing, which has 18,000 claims, construction, which has 34,000 claims, and the wholesale retail trade, which has 62,000 claims. The figure of 98,000 claims for the accommodation and food services sector will obviously stay at that level for a time. I hope that information is useful to the Deputy.
I join other Deputies in complimenting the work done by the Minister and her Department in what were very challenging times.
I have no doubt that in the weeks ahead she will be equally up to the task of dovetailing activities in such a way as to ensure a smooth return to work for the people who have been out of work, be they employers or employees, and that such a return will be backed up with a continued payment where necessary and a good liaison between the Department and those affected.
I hope the Minister's Department does not get hit by any of these viruses going around, or we will all be in trouble. The volume of work done by the officials has been extraordinary. Has the Minister received any reports of skills shortages in various sectors? We have heard anecdotal reports that employers are finding it difficult to get workers now, which is probably a good sign for the economy. I would like to know the Minister's perception of that.
I have heard that a number of people are having difficulty getting people back to work but I believe the majority want to go back to work. There is a support line for employers if they need assistance with difficulties they might face in getting staff. We want to help people retrain, reskill and find the jobs that are out there. Some will not go back to their old jobs so we want to help them. There are job activation measures in place and I will deal with that in the coming weeks as the economy continues to open.
Our ICT systems are fully operational and additional cybersecurity measures were put in place over the weekend as an act of caution following the HSE incident. My Department works hard to make sure we have the right firewalls in place. We have a lot of data and we want to protect it.
