Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys has said the number of people claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for the coming week has dropped to 309,000.
Ms Humphreys said the figure is now down approximately 100,000 since the economy began to partially reopen, and said it reflected the number of people who have gone back to work.
The minister said there would be more clarity on the phasing out of PUP payments when the cabinet meets tomorrow. She said it is not sustainable to keep payments up in the long-term, but stressed that there will be no "cliff edge" announcement.
Ms Humphreys said it was unhelpful to speculate ahead of tomorrow's decision, adding that she was conscious of how tough it has been for students