Cork sees significant drop in number of people receiving PUP 

THERE has been a significant drop in the number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) in Cork with the greatest reduction in the accommodation and food sector.

According to the latest figures published by the Department of Social Protection, just over 153,000 people received the payment this week across the country.

The number of recipients has now fallen by almost 70% since February. 

Cork had the second-highest number of recipients with 13,536, down from 14,025 last week.

At the start of this month, 14,629 people in Cork were receiving the PUP while on 28 July, there were 17,053 recipients in the county.

Some 4,400 PUP recipients closed their claims within the past week, with almost half of these working in the Accommodation and Food Services sector.

Commenting on the latest figures, Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD said it is “heartening” to see more people return to work each week as the country cautiously moves through its recovery from Covid-19.

“We know from past experience that when the economy recovers, it doesn’t always move at the same pace for everybody."

Minister Humphreys said that the Government’s national employment strategy, the Pathways to Work Strategy, ensures that supports will be provided to enable people to get back working again, be it through upskilling in their area of expertise or training for an entirely new career path.

“As the economic recovery continues and new jobs are created, we want to ensure that people in receipt of income supports have the training, skills and most importantly the confidence to take on new roles."