1,600 off pandemic payment register since restrictions were lifted
THE number of workers in Kerry claiming the emergency Pandemic Unemployment Payment has fallen by 1,600 in the last week.
In its weekly breakdown of Pandemic Payment figures, the Department of Social Protection said that since May 16 – two days before the first restrictions were lifted by the Government – 1,400 workers in Kerry had withdrawn their claims for the €350 a week payment.
The number of temporarily laidoff Kerry workers in receipt of the payment fell by an additional 200 in the last week and stood at 21,500 on Monday.
That overall figure still includes the 1,400 workers who have withdrawn their claims.
This is because the payment is made ‘in arrears’. They are still due to receive their final payments – and then be removed from the list – later this week.
Of those that withdrew their Pandemic Payment claims, roughly 80 per cent said that they were returning to work.
While precise figures for Kerry are not available, based on national trends it would appear that the vast majority of these workers have retuned to jobs in the construction, wholesale and general retail sectors.
Meanwhile the number of Kerry people in receipt of the ‘Enhanced Illness Benefit’ for COVID-19 rose by 100 in the last week to stand at 1,000.
This payment – which is different to the Pandemic Payment – is made to people who have the virus or have been instructed to self isolate as they were in contact with a known case.
The Department is advising all Pandemic Payment recipients that they must close and withdraw their claim on the actual date they return to work.