The COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (referred to as the PUP)[1] was a government emergency aid program in the
Republic of Ireland that provided monetary relief to those who face unemployment due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, whether formerly employed or self-employed.
Eligibility
Anyone whose job vanished on (or after) 13 March 2020 as a result of the pandemic was eligible.[2]
On 24 March, the amount of money distributed as part of the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment was increased from €203 per week to €350.[4]
By the end of March, the
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection announced that the total applications it received for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment over the previous two weeks were equivalent to a 19-month claim load.[5]
Doherty defended the scheme on Today with Seán O'Rourke on 3 April amid claims that some students were taking advantage: "By
Jove, I know they're going to spend in it in the economy when we re-open in couple of weeks or a couple of months time. It was a very small price to pay for the people that needed an income".[6]
By early April, the
Central Statistics Office (CSO) announced that a figure equivalent to more than one tenth of the country's population were unemployed, with more than half of that number receiving the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.[7][8] A spokesman for
Goodbody Stockbrokers described it as "unprecedented".[9] By the following week, the numbers receiving the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment had nearly doubled again from the previous week's total.[10]
In April, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection "inadvertently" emailed 1,700 people to inform them they were no longer eligible for the scheme.[11]
On 11 May, it was reported that the number of people receiving the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment had slightly decreased for the first time since its establishment, though this was attributed to employees being offered the
Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme instead.[13][14] A further slight fall occurred the following week.[15][16]
On 19 May, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said a decision would be made "soon" regarding an extension of the payment.[17] On 4 June, the
Government of Ireland announced that the payment would be extended for "months, not weeks".[18] The Irish Independent reported that the payment would be cut by 40% (from €350 to €203 per week) for part-time workers.[19] On 5 June,
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social ProtectionRegina Doherty announced that the payment would be extended until 10 August, and would be reduced for part-time workers from 29 June.[20][21]
On 21 May, a young male was arrested at a house in
Mullingar, County Westmeath, after it was determined that he had applied for six separate COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payments.[22]
On 23 July, as part of the
July Jobs Stimulus package announced by the
Government, the payment was extended until April 2021 and intended to be gradually reduced to €203 per week over that period based on the pre-pandemic earnings of the claimant. The scheme would, at the time of this announcement, close to new applicants from 17 September.[23]
On 15 September,
Minister for Social ProtectionHeather Humphreys announced that the payment would accept new applicants until the end of the year, with rates going from two different ones to three on 17 September dependent on the amount of money the recipient previously earned.[1]
On 19 October, the Government confirmed that the payment would be restored to €350 for anyone who was earning more than €400 before they lost their job due to COVID-19 restrictions.[24][25][26]
On 24 November, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys secured Government approval to keep the payment open to new applicants until 31 March 2021.[27][28]
Under the Government's new revised
Living with COVID-19 plan published on 23 February 2021, the payment was extended until 30 June 2021.[29][30][31]
On 1 June, as part of the
Economic Recovery Plan announced by the Government, the payment was extended until September 2021, when gradual reductions would begin.[32][33][34]
On 30 September, the
Comptroller and Auditor General found there were not enough checks carried out by the
Department of Social Protection when people applied for the payment in 2020. The report found that 9.4% of claimants were not eligible, in just under half the cases, the claimant continued working while claiming the PUP and in one quarter of cases, there was no evidence the claimant had been working prior to the pandemic.[35]
On 3 December, as part of the Government's reintroduction of measures, the payment was reinstated for all those who lost their jobs as a result of the restrictions.[36]
The payment closed to new applicants on 22 January 2022,[37] and officially ended on 25 March 2022.[38]