Government believes Covid-19 unemployment payments have now peaked

The first drop in the numbers claiming Covid-19 welfare payments has been attributed to people returning to work and instead availing of the wage subsidy scheme.

There has been a fall-off in Covid-19 unemployment welfare payment claims for the first time since the pandemic forced businesses to close their doors.

New figures show that 589,000 people today received their Covid-19 weekly welfare payment of €350, at a cost of €206m. But this was a fall of 9,000 on payments issued last week - the first decrease in numbers seeking the emergency welfare since the scheme began in March. Of the overall numbers claiming, around 8,700 are receiving a payment for the first time.