Today the Government announced a range of measures to ensure that the recovery from the pandemic is jobs led.
Pandemic Unemployment Payment
PUP was introduced on a temporary basis in March 2020 as an unprecedented response recognising the unique circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. The payment has continued to support many people in cushioning the financial impact of Covid-19 with over 865,000 people having received at least one payment.
With the re-opening of businesses and more jobs becoming available the requirement for exceptional measures is diminishing. The experience of recent weeks is that over 170,000 people have returned to work since the 2021 peak in the PUP register in February. Last year 400,000 people closed their PUP claim over the summer months.
Minister Humphreys commented:
“As Minister for Social Protection, my focus over the past 12 months has been ensuring that we protect our citizens who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic.
“The Pandemic Unemployment Payment has proven to be a critical support for people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
“To date, we’ve spent almost €8 billion on the PUP, ensuring that families who found themselves in really difficult situations were protected when they needed support the most.
“Over 24 million payments have been issued and over 865,000 people have received support under the scheme.”
To allow as much time as possible for employment to recover, a transitional approach will be taken with payments reduced on a tapered basis over 6 months from next September so that people are not faced with a ‘cliff-edge’ reduction.
- PUP will be extended beyond 30th June 2021 until February 2022 for existing claimants. This is to allow the impact of the lifting of restrictions to take hold and for further sectors to re-open.
- PUP will close to new entrants from 1st July 2021 onwards. At that stage as the vaccination rollout continues and with restrictions being progressively lifted there should be no additional layoffs due to the imposition of further restrictions.
- Payments to Students will cease once they return to full time education – the last payment will be made on 7th September. Ordinarily, students do not qualify for jobseeker supports.
- The current rates of payment above the rate of €203 will remain in place until 7th September at which point they will begin to be gradually reduced on a phased basis in increments of €50.
- The first reduction is planned to take effect in payments on 14th September, with subsequent reductions taking effect in mid-November and early February.
- People currently receiving the €203 rate and those who reach the €203 rate in each phase, will then transition to standard jobseeker terms. This will be done over a period of time and with advance notice.
Minister Humphreys added:
“The scale is unprecedented but it was necessary to protect our citizens at a time of national crisis. Thankfully that crisis is now subsiding.
“The vaccine roll-out is continuing at pace and we are now able to look ahead to a summer where businesses across the country will re-open, some for the first time in over a year.
“In February, there were over 481,000 people in receipt of the PUP.
“Today that number is just over 309,000, a fall of over 170,000 which clearly shows that people are returning to work as businesses reopen.
“Next week the numbers will fall below the 300,000 mark and as key sectors like hospitality re-open, we expect the numbers to fall significantly throughout June, July and August.”
Continuation of other Covid-19 related social welfare supports
Between now and the end of the year, the Department will ensure that it continues to provide other important supports.
Supports for Self-employed
The €1,000 Enterprise Support Grant will remain in place for the rest of the year for self-employed people who close their PUP payment. Those who claimed the grant in 2020 but who found themselves back on PUP in 2021, will be able to access the grant for a second time.
The arrangements to allow self-employed workers earn up to €960 per month while in receipt of PUP will remain in place
The Part Time Job Incentive will remain available to self-employed workers to the end of the year. This enables them to take up limited self-employment and retain a weekly payment of €128.60.
Rent Supplement
The flexible approach to Rent Supplement including those for victims of domestic abuse that have been in place throughout the pandemic, will continue until the end of the year.
Enhanced Illness Benefit
The Covid Enhanced Illness Benefit payment will continue at its current rate. Any future decisions on this payment will be informed by public health advice.
Helping People Back to Work
Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme
The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme funded by the Department and administered by the Revenue Commissioners will be extended until the end of the year and the conditions will be modified to make it easier for employers to qualify. This will help employers with the costs of taking workers back into employment and should contribute to a fast recovery in employment.
Minister Humphreys continued:
“I have always said that my Department is here to help – over the past year that has been very obvious in the way it responded to help people with the financial stresses of Covid -19. As the economy re-opens we are still here to help - not just through the continued provision of income supports but through the provision of employment advice, employment supports and access to retraining.
“In this way we want to help people move from PUP and other income supports into employment I will be shortly publishing an updated Pathways to Work Strategy but can announce today some of the key elements of that strategy that were included in the National Economic Recovery Plan.”
Intreo – the Public Employment Service will, with its service partners, recruit and engage additional employment case officers to increase the overall caseload capacity by over 100,000 compared to pre Covid-19 levels. This will provide valuable additional employment service capacity to support individuals who have lost employment back into work.
A new work-placement programme will provide 10,000 paid work-placement opportunities for unemployed people. This programme has been submitted to the EU for funding under the Resilience and Recovery Fund.
The Jobs Plus recruitment subsidy scheme will be expanded to help employers recruit up to 8,000 unemployed people and to bias that recruitment toward people affected by Covid-19 – in particular young people.
50,000 new places will also be made available in further education and training to help people from sectors that are particularly affected to re-skill and upskill into new sectors of opportunity.
Further details on these and other initiatives will be provided in the forthcoming Pathways to Work strategy which will be announced later this month.
The total value of the supports announced today are estimated to be over €4 billion up to end December 2021.
The Minister concluded:
“Today is about looking forward, rebuilding our economy and getting people back to work. The exceptional range of income supports have served their purpose and will continue to do so for the next few months, but then we must turn our focus to a set of exceptional employment support measures to help people find and sustain employment. It is to that job that we now turn.”
ENDS
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