The coronavirus pandemic has pushed over 300,000 workers onto State wage support lifelines as they have either been laid off or seen their pay cut, according to official data released today. The Central Statistics Office said that 283,037 people were in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and that 25,104 were signed up for the Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme. The Central Statistics Office “Live Register” tracks benefits and so those who have signed up for Government wage have now been added to the register. The Government has budgeted €6.7bn for emergency support measures so far as the lockdown across the State intensifies in the battle against coronavirus. Most of that is earmarked for wage support schemes and unemployment payments.

Source: Irish Independent April 02, 2020 10:30 UTC