PUP numbers start to fall sharply but 363,000 people still require payments     

Number of people on Pandemic Unemployment Payment fell by 13,000 as sectors of the economy started to open this week

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys: 'As the PUP is paid weekly in arrears, the full impact of the re-opening of sectors such as retail will not be evident for a number of weeks to come.' Picture: Julien Behal

The number of people on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen sharply, by 13,500, for the first time as more parts of the economy that were shut down since Christmas start to reopen this week.

However, people laid off from the three biggest areas that have suffered most from the health restrictions, including accommodation and food service, retail, and construction, continue to have large numbers who need the pandemic payments.

The Department of Social Protection said there were 363,000 people requiring the payments, down by 13,500 in the week. 

Accommodation and food service

Its new figures show that accommodation and food service, long the largest group requiring the PUP, this week accounted for just over 96,400, down unsurprisingly by only 1,720 in the past week because the restrictions on the industry will only start lifting next month, at the earliest. 

The number of people in wholesale and retail requiring the PUP at 59,545, is down by only 2,570 in the week. 

And at just over 31,580, the number requiring the PUP in one of the largest groups, construction, is down by 3,080.

There are other areas too, including administrative and support services, at 31,860 people, which have also shown small declines in the past week.

“The slow and gradual re-opening of the economy is once again reflected in this week’s Pandemic Unemployment Payment figures," said Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys. 

“As the PUP is paid weekly in arrears, the full impact of the re-opening of sectors such as retail will not be evident for a number of weeks to come," she said.

Government officials will be watching the figures in the coming weeks.  

When the restrictions were lifted after the first lockdown last summer, the numbers coming off the PUP quickened as the economy opened up.

Concerns firms will fail to reopen

There will be concerns, however, that many small firms will fail to reopen because parts of the economy have been under restrictions for so long.

Professor Kieran McQuinn at the Economic and Social Research Institute has said that an end-summer review of the PUP and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme would allow Government ministers time to assess new levels of support that will then likely be required for small firms.