Over 18,000 people are receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment across Galway today.
Just two weeks ago on 22 December, the number of people in receipt of the payment was 14,882.
Across the country, 335,600 are receiving the PUP this week, an increase of 57,928 from two weeks ago. This week’s payments come at a cost of over €99 million.
In May 2020, over 32,000 people in Galway were receiving the payment, and over €5 billion in total has been paid out in PUP since the start of the pandemic.
Speaking today, Minister Heather Humphreys said: “It has been a really difficult Christmas period for people who lost their employment due to the move to Level 5 restrictions.
“As anticipated we have seen a significant increase in the number of people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment since 22nd December.
“Every county has seen the number of people applying for PUP increase over the past two weeks and, similarly, there has been an increase in every sector applying for the payment over this period.”
