Q&A: 16,000 workers affected to date so how do Covid-19 emergency welfare payments work?

More than 16,000 laid-off workers have applied for the Government’s emergency unemployment payment since Monday — with a huge rise in numbers expected in the coming days.

Concerns about having to post hard copies rather than sending applications electronically have marred the process, with worried workers inundating the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the Citizens Information Board, and local representatives with calls.