Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) rates will be cut by €50 after today, as part of the Government's wind down of the scheme.
Students in full-time education will also receive their final payment today, as they return to college. The PUP was introduced rapidly by the Government in March 2020 to provide an income safety net to those who lost their jobs when pandemic restrictions were introduced.
At its peak in May of last year, the PUP was being claimed by 605,000 people across a large range of sectors and in total more than 900,000 have received at least one payment at some point over the last 18 months.
The total cost of the scheme to date has surpassed €8.6 billion and last week 143,000 people were still in receipt of it. In its Economic