20,000 GETTING COVID-19 RELIEF PAYMENT IN COUNTY

THE impact of the Covid-19 crisis on Co Wexford’s economy has been laid bare by figures released last week showing that more than 20,000 people are availing of the €350 weekly payment, while almost 9,000 people are in receipt of Social Welfare payments.

Wexford has the third highest Covid payment claims per head of population with 43.6 per cent of the workforce in receipt of the €350 weekly payment. Only Kerry (45.53 per cent) and Donegal (47.12 per cent) have more claimants.

€7,070,000 per week is being paid to out of work Wexford people in the payment. According to the 2016 Census there are 46,328 workers in the county, meaning that around half of the county’s workforce are no longer working.

The first Covid-19 related payments were in customer’s bank accounts on Tuesday, March 24. Before March 24 the rate of payment was €203, prior to it being increased to €350. By April 6, the last date for which a county by county breakdown of figures is available for, there were 17,600 Wexford residents in receipt of the Covid-19 payment. By April 14 that figure had risen to 18,400, which swelled to 20,100 a week later and to 20,200 by last Monday, April 28.

According to the CSO, 8,862 Co Wexford people were in receipt of Social Welfare payments in March. Nationally 591,000 people were in receipt of the Covid-19 payment on April 28, 337,000 of whom were male and 254,000 female. The number of people claiming Covid 19 Illness Benefit here rose from 1,100 to 1,300 between April 21 and April 28.