Scale of Covid hit laid bare: 1.3m people needed wage subsidy or PUP during crisis      

60% of the labour force needed some sort of welfare payment since the onset of the pandemic 14 months ago, CSO figures reveal

In the past week, the PUP figures had fallen sharply by 13,500, to 363,000, for the first time as more parts of the economy that were shut down since Christmas started to reopen. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

The huge scale of the Covid economic crisis on Irish households has been laid bare with more than 1.3m people – or 60% of the labour force – having required some sort of welfare payment since the onset of the pandemic 14 months ago, official figures reveal.

The CSO numbers include the people who have needed one of the two Government's wage-subsidy schemes – the current Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and its temporary predecessor, as well as the pandemic unemployment or PUP payments. The figures do not, however, include people on the job seeker's allowances.