The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Almost 6,000 back to work since lockdown was relaxed
ALMOST 6,000 Kerry workers who were laid off during the Coronavirus lock-down have now returned to work.
That’s according to the latest Pandemic Unemployment Payment figures, which were released by the department of Social Protection on Monday.
The figures show that this week 16,400 people in Kerry will receive the €350 payment, including 700 people who have already cancelled their claims but who are still due to receive their final weekly payments.
The Department’s figures specifically relate to workers who have cancelled their pandemic payment claims as they are returning to work.
As of Monday, there were 15,700 furloughed workers claiming the payment in the county.
The number remains high but it is down by 5,800 since early May, when there were 22,200 people availing of the emergency payment across Kerry.
At that point, on May 5, almost half of Kerry’s roughly 55,000-strong workforce was out of work due to the lockdown and the COVID-19 crisis.
The vast majority of these workers were employed in the retail, hospitality and services sectors, which account for a quarter of all jobs in the county.
At that point the bill for the Pandemic Payment in Kerry alone stood at €7.7million a week.
According to the Department a further 1,100 people in Kerry – the same number as in the previous week – will receive the €350 Covid Illness Benefit this week.
This payment – which is different to the Pandemic Payment – is provided to people who have or had the virus or who were instructed to self-isolate as they were in contact with a known case.
Monday’s figures do not include workers supported through Revenue’s COVID-19 Wage Subsidy for employers – of whom there are several thousand in the county.