Government to begin paying Covid-19 emergency unemployment fund today
Some 283,000 applicants for the Government’’s Covid-19 emergency unemployment fund have been told their payments will begin to arrive in their bank accounts today.
The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection said the high numbers are in addition to the standard jobseeker payments, which have jumped by 19,000 to 201,000 since the end of February.
More than 20,500 employers who kept on workers and instead applied to the Department for funds to cover wages saw the funds go into bank accounts yesterday.
Since the launch of the scheme announced by the Government on March 16, the department received and processed 389,000 applications for the Covid-19 Unemployment Payment — the equivalent to a 19-month claim-load in two weeks, the department said.
However, it said it also received more than 66,000 duplicate payments, which slowed the process: "Excluding these duplicates, 88% of claims received were put into payment. All of these payments will be paid into customers’ bank accounts on Tuesday, March 31."
Some 15,000 did not meet eligibility criteria — if they were not previously in employment, they were under 18 or they were still in employment.
A further 8,700 had invalid PPSNs and 6,600 had invalid IBANs for their bank details.
"The department is working very hard to resolve any issues, such as invalid IBANs or PPSNs, with legitimate applications and is contacting the people concerned directly over the next few days," it said.
It also urged phone contact to its offices only if a person deems it absolutely necessary: "All of the department’s phone lines are extremely busy and it is important that they are available to help people with an immediate and urgent need for assistance. People with an immediate and urgent need should call 01 2481398 or 1890 800 024. We will do our best to respond as quickly as possible."
The filling out of correct PPSNs and IBANs will make the process easier, the Department said.
"We also ask that people take care when submitting applications to ensure that critical information such as dates of birth, PPSN and IBANs are entered correctly. An IBAN has 22 characters and people should take care that it is entered correctly."
Minister for Social Protection, Regina Doherty, repeated that the pandemic is presenting "a once in a century challenge to Irish society" and placing unprecedented demand on our welfare services.
"With such significant levels of income loss in the short term, my Department is determined to make sure nobody is left behind and is working around the clock to meet the scale of this challenge. For those who are now out of work due to the increased restrictions necessary, the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment — now paid at the rate of €350 per week — will provide much needed immediate assistance and we are working hard to ensure that all who need this help receive it and get it as quickly as possible."
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