Pandemic payments to continue to August

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is now to be paid until at least Phase 5 of the Roadmap for Re-opening Society and Business – currently scheduled for August 2020, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty has today announced.

Other changes announced today include:

The introduction, from Phase 3 of the Roadmap (29th June), of a two level payment structure to link the Pandemic Unemployment Payment level to prior earnings;

The extension, until Phase 5 of the Roadmap, of the waiver of waiting days on jobseekers payments and the increased rate of payment for Qualified Adults on jobseeker claims;

The extension, until Phase 5 of the Roadmap, of the current arrangements with respect to the waiver of waiting days and the payment of an enhanced rate of Illness Benefit to people affected by Covid-19.

One of the issues identified with the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is that a minority of recipients who previously only worked a small number of hours received significantly more in the Pandemic Unemployment Payment than while in employment. In order to address this issue the PUP will now be paid at two levels:

For those whose prior employment earnings were €200 per week or higher (about 75% of recipients), the PUP rate will remain at €350 per week;

For those whose prior employment earnings were up to €199.99 per week (about 25% of recipients), the PUP rate will be €203 per week - the primary rate of payment of the Jobseeker’s Benefit scheme.

No person on the lower rate of payment will receive less on PUP than they were previously paid by their employer.